MetaCoded
by StarLion
Summary: Continuing the Meta-Stories, who else does the King turn to when Data-Sora is having trouble in Jiminy's digitized Journal than me?
1. Calling Tech Support

Well then, I guess it's about time I got started at this. As usual, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just my Keyblade and the other odd bits and pieces I picked up while I was busy running around in Sora's life, which was well documented in 'MetaStory Switch'. Not to mention expanded on when my Nobody decided to let you in on his misadventures as well, which somehow went across better. I guess Roxas is more interesting than me.

But as usual, I'm starting to go off on an unrelated topic. Didn't I tell you all in MetaStory Switch not to let me do that?

Anyway, it's been a while since I got back from dealing with Xemnas. Much as I enjoyed the adventuring, getting back to my own life was a welcome break. Sora had managed to handle it without making people too aware that something wasn't quite right, so no one really noticed me take over again.

But one of the irritating little things about having gone on an adventure is that sooner or later, leading a normal life starts to get a bit boring. More than once I almost turned to the Book – that is, Neku's Book – to go and send myself on one. He and I have the same sense of morality though, and usually we just ended up discussing the idea instead of actually doing anything. He knew as well as I do that this time, if I wanted to go on an adventure I'd have to arrange for someone to cover for me. I doubted I could pass it off as an accident a second time.

As it happened, the solution came not through me or Neku, but via Riku. If you recall, I showed Riku how to keep his darkness and use it safely, allowing him to continue to get around through dark corridors without trouble.

This in turn meant he kept in touch with more people than Sora did, since Sora tended to stay at home on the Destiny Islands with Xion and Kairi. The two of them got up to no end of mischief since Xion and Sora looked identical now.

Among those he was in contact with was of course, King Mickey. Who had Donald, Goofy and Jiminy with him, and the first copy of Jiminy's Journal – the one that had been erased in Castle Oblivion. Since they also had the second copy, which had not been erased, they were not working to retrieve the entries, but to unlock the meaning of the two currently known messages - 'Thank Naminé' and 'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it'.

Of course, I had no idea of this at first. Not until Riku showed up while I was at work with a green envelope bearing the seal of King Mickey, which left me with plenty of awkward questions from my co-workers. That was interesting, to say the least.

Yes, I know. This story is slower to start. Just be patient, will you?

Naturally I left it to a quiet moment before I actually read Mickey's letter. The only other one around at the time was Neku, though as the Book. He rarely appeared to me in person because it tended to attract attention.

The letter read,

'Liam,

We're working on the erased copy of the journal, and we've hit on a bit of a problem. I realize you're kinda far off to call for tech support, but Goofy is sure you can help. Since Donald and Riku agreed, I can at least ask, right?

I'd appreciate it if you'd stop by the castle to lend a hand if you can, and if not Riku says you can ask a certain Neku to nudge things along.

Hope we see you soon,

Mickey.

P.S. Riku gave us a message for you. He says Tron and Flynn are doing well, but if you don't stop by and visit them soon they'll come looking for you themselves.'

"A little far off?" I objected aloud. "Just how far is it from here to the Disney Castle?"

The Book flipped open beside me, words appearing on the page to respond, 'At least four hours if you go on your Glider, assuming there's nothing along the way to slow you down. There's a short-cut though, but it's risky.'

"How risky, and what kind of risks?"

'You'll risk getting seen on your Glider in this world. You can't tell me that wouldn't be hard to explain.'

"Just what is this shortcut of yours, Neku?"

'Simple. Fly to one of the various Disney holiday places on your world. Paris is closer, Tokyo would make it easier on me. Since they're close to the real Disney Castle – the one where Mickey is – I'll be able to open a route that'll take you there.'

"You realize it'll be bad enough if I get seen taking my Glider into the Lanes Between from here. Can't you just enhance that Teleport spell Merlin taught me or something?"

'Even if I did, you don't have enough magic to go that far, even with a full tank. There are limits to what I can do Liam, you know that.'

"There's no other way?"

'You could take a corridor,' Neku suggested, though I caught the impression he was being sarcastic. One of the advantages he has, while words lose the emotions behind them, he can cause people to get the right impressions as if they were spoken.

"Do me a favour then? Call ahead and tell Mickey I'll be there in about four hours, and he better have the kettle on for some tea when I get there."

'You ought to cut back on the tea,' Neku told me critically, then added, 'How are you going to explain this absence though?'

"Roxas can cover for me," I shrugged. Roxas was actually asleep, as he often was. He'd complained a bit about my life being boring (which it is sometimes) then decided to sleep most of the time unless something interesting happened. "Just leave him a note explaining what we're doing and make it so people see me instead of him."

'He won't like not being consulted about it,' Neku warned me.

"He'll get over it. Besides, it's about time he did something useful. Where'd I leave the armour?"

'I stored it away for you so you wouldn't have anyone accidentally find them. That and the clothes Yen Sid gave you. Just put on the chain with the crown I left in your pocket and it'll change what you're wearing to them.'

Isn't it nice to have someone around who can make things so much more convenient? At least Neku doesn't mind doing things like that. It's part of the conditions of his choosing to let me keep hold of his book – I don't try and make use of him selfishly, and he'll do little things like that without being asked. It's a little more detailed than that, especially if you asked him. Not that he'd reply right now, but... well, you'll see why he's unusually quiet lately much later on in the story.

Anyway, while I would have liked to stop by any one of the Disney resorts – I might not be young, but I'm still an eternal child at heart – I went for the longer trip mostly because I didn't particularly feel like getting seen. At least going into the Lanes Between there'd only be a short window where I would get seen, and since it was fairly late in the evening the darkness made it much easier to leave.

If you ever get the chance to do it yourself though, remember to watch out for aircraft on the way out. I had a bit of a close encounter, you might say.

* * *

><p>I slept a great deal on the way there. Neku arranged it so that I wouldn't make any accidental course changes in my sleep, then made sure I'd wake up if anything came up. It might have taken just over four hours to get there, but at least sleeping through most of it I wasn't so bored. Besides, I could dream about my boyfriend – who I'd told about what I was doing this time, after quickly doubling back just before I got into the Lanes Between when I remembered I hadn't done that.<p>

I'd been to the Disney Castle before on my Glider, though it had been during the time Xigbar had stuck me into the past. It hadn't changed much though, so I was able to pull into the hanger alongside Mickey's Gummi Ship and had just enough time to remove my armour before I got pushed to the ground by Donald jumping on me.

"Well look who's happy to see me," I said, picking him off me. "Did you really miss me that much?"

"Of course!" Donald answered. "There's been nothing going on at all since you went home, we've been left bored half to death!"

"Mickey told us ya were coming," Goofy told me, offering me a hand back up. "He's waiting for us in the library."

"Well, why don't we go pay a call on him, since I've been dragged all the way out here to help him fix his computer."

"Oh, it's a bit more complicated than that," Donald said. "You gotta see it for yourself."

"Figures. At least you didn't come to me and just say something like 'it's broken'. Can't stand it when people give me no details to work with and still expect me to fix it."

I wasn't kidding. I can get a bit irate when people do that.

The Library was a little different to the way I remembered it. In amongst the bookcases was a large white table, with what I assume was a computer on it. Given that this was a Disney world, I'm not surprised it looked pretty odd. Mickey was sat on the far side, leaning on the table scratching at his head with a frustrated look to him.

"So your Majesty," I called to him, startling him momentarily. "I hear you've got some computer troubles?"

"Liam!" he exclaimed. "Thank goodness you're here, I don't think we can do this without you now."

"Relax, Mickey. Calm down and tell me what's going on."

"Maybe Jiminy had better tell you," Mickey said, sounding worried. The little cricket wandered into view from behind the computer's keyboard.

"Go on," I said, having one of those Bad Feelings. "What happened?"

"We digitized the contents of that blank journal," Jiminy told me. "After the first message we found in there – 'Thank Naminé' – another one appeared that said, 'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it'. We thought if we called on the Data Sora, he'd be able to help us, but..."

"But?" I prompted.

"Data-Sora can't do it," Mickey explained. "Jiminy's journal records you and what you could do at the time as Sora, not the real Sora. He acts and thinks like Sora, but seems to react as if he's got some of your capabilities. Not future sight, but seeing far-off parts of the datascape."

"I don't see why that means he can't do it."

"He's not you," Jiminy said. "Just like at the time it was you pretending to be Sora, now it's Sora pretending to be you. We've sent him through several times now," he went on. "Backing up the state of the Journal before we contact him and send him on his way so we can restore back to it. Sometimes he gets further than others, but always he gets stopped before we can make any progress. He's been deleted several times, and it's only through restoring the backup we've been able to get him back – which erases any progress we do manage to make."

"There's another thing too," Goofy broke in. "Donald and me found these just after Mickey gave Riku the message for you." He held out his hands to show me. In one hand was a single, long white feather, in the other a thin book with a white hardback cover. You know thanks to Roxas that the feathers mean Charlie, but at this point in time I had no idea.

I examined the feather first, finding nothing odd about it, then took the book off him with some caution – Neku's book had done that to me, I treated any unmarked book carefully now in case it was one of his relatives.

There was no title on the cover, not even a single word. Inside the covers was also white, with blank white pages. I flicked through them to see if there was anything on them, finding nothing until the last page.

"'The feather is mine'," I read aloud. "'A sign of my time'. What's that meant to mean?" I wondered, then just added, "Neku? Any advice?"

This time he made an appearance in person, appearing not far away. As always, he bore the appearance of the real Neku.

"Something's stopping me, Liam," he said in a serious tone. "Only one thing can cause that – another book."

"You mean, this is... could be one of your relatives?"

"I can't say for sure. It could be, or it could be something one of them has created. It's a limitation I have – I have no influence over them or anything they've done, just as the same holds true for anything I've done and them. If it is one of my brothers or sisters, be very, very careful. I've never met any of them before, but I know of them – some of them you really don't want to meet."

"Surely they have to wait for someone to write in their book though," Donald pointed out.

"Not so," Neku shook his head. "I can act independently, my book is just my true form. If anything happens to that book it also happens to me. Some of the others don't want to be owned, and if someone does take up their book it's because they want them to."

"It could just be a coincidence," I said. "And we're not going to get anywhere by speculating. First thing we're going to do is get me into the datascape to see if I can get any further with Data-Sora than he has been alone."

Neku held my shoulder a moment and said, "Don't forget – you left Roxas behind to cover for you. You'll only have one Keyblade here, and you won't be at full strength."

"Just a side effect of necessity," I shrugged. "I faced Ansem without him, I'm sure I can tackle this."

"Famous last words," Donald muttered under his breath. At the time I thought he could at least have had more confidence in me, but looking back... he was right to be a little doubtful.


	2. DataSora's Day

Entering the datascape turned out to be fairly simple. Mickey had more of a technical mind than I realized, having made a trip to Twilight Town to examine DiZ's computer there, making use of many parts of it to form the computer running the datascape itself. A replica of the device that he'd used to send Roxas into the Simulated Twilight Town was of course the way in.

This left me on the data version of Destiny Islands. Jiminy's Journal contained little about this, most of it having been told to him by me, but it seemed complete enough. Tidus and Selphie busy sparring with each other, Wakka stood not far from the entrance to the Secret Place, and Data-Sora and Riku up fighting on the rock.

Note here that this is the first difference to the game – Riku is _not_ the Journal taking on a form. You'll notice as we go along that the normal story very rarely applies, mostly due to the differences between what should have happened and what did happen before then, but also because of me.

Curiously, there were none of the blocks marking corrupted data in the journal. At least... not yet.

"Wait until Data-Sora is done fighting Riku," Mickey's voice told me. "We found the hard way if we go in before then, they both turned on us."

"You mean you actually came into the datascape yourself?" I asked, keeping my voice down. The locals didn't seem to have noticed my abrupt appearance yet, but I didn't want to chance it.

"Well someone had to guide him," Mickey replied defensively. "He's as bad as you are though. I can't put up with him any more than I could you."

"Well excuse me," I said. "I can't help the way I am."

Mickey didn't dignify that with a response.

Riku somehow managed to defeat Data-Sora, though I wasn't really concerned with how. He vowed to come back for a rematch later on, leaving Riku to go back to staring out to sea, then he noticed me, easily swimming through the intervening water to meet me.

"You're Liam, aren't you?" he began.

"Well that saves on introductions," I remarked. "I imagine you know what you are then."

Data-Sora nodded, "Jiminy's recording of you digitized."

"Now you see why I couldn't put up with him," Mickey broke in.

"Oh, hello again Mickey," Data-Sora said to the empty air.

"Hold on, I thought you said you backed the datascape up _before_ you contacted him?" I interrupted.

"We did," Mickey replied. "This is new."

"I just took your advice," Data-Sora told us. "Made a bit of my data that was unaffected by restoring the backup. It got reattached to me every time I was recreated, so I could keep the memories I'd lost."

"You told us it didn't work!"

"I lied," he shrugged. "It's a habit of mine. I knew you wouldn't bring Liam here until you got frustrated enough, so I just didn't let you in on it."

"You sneaky, manipulative little-" Mickey began, but I cut him off.

"I think I like him this way," I laughed. "He's a lot like me."

"Well 'natchly," Data-Sora said with a smirk. "I am based on you. Now, why don't we get out of this safe, make-believe version of Destiny Islands and have Mickey transfer us to the Journal's real digitized version?"

"You mean this isn't..."

"Oh, no, not this. Mickey copied the debugged version so we'd have a stable starting ground. That doesn't get affected by the backups though, so we'll have to debug the real thing again."

"No time like the present," I said, then to Mickey, "If you'd do the honours, your Majesty."

I heard him mutter, "As if one of them wasn't bad enough," before we were transferred in a flash of blue light. We were left in exactly the same place in the journal's Destiny Islands, complete with the various others still continuing on as if nothing had happened, but now there were a variety of bug blocks around.

Out of a bad habit from playing the actual Re:Coded game, I took out my Keyblade to go and deal with them, but Data-Sora stopped me.

"Don't bother," he told me. "They just come back until we debug the system sector."

"And I suppose you know where that is?"

"'natchly," he replied, leading the way to the small shack, through which you can reach the bridge to the rock Riku was on. "Don't try and use the bridge," he warned me as we left by the roof hatch inside. "It'll disappear when I open the system sector."

"Are you sure you need me Mickey?" I asked. "He seems to be managing alright without me so far."

"Wait until we hit Traverse Town," Data-Sora replied. He took out his own Keyblade, a pixellated version of the Kingdom Key that's better known as Zero/One – another deviation from the standard story, since he shouldn't have this Keyblade until after fighting Sora's – or here, my – Heartless.

Entering the system sector turned out to be as easy as having Data-Sora unlock it with his Keyblade, instantly transferring us to a world of reds that reminded my of Space Paranoids – hardly surprising, since the two datascapes use the same base technologies.

"I know what you're thinking," Data-Sora said. "Just fight a bunch of bugged Heartless, right?"

"That's what's meant to happen, anyway," I agreed.

"Not here. It's fairly easy here, so just sit back and let me handle it. You'll get an idea of just how different things are here."

"You're sure you won't need me?"

"Trust me," he replied, then casually wandered up to a heap of bug blocks. Along the way, bugged versions of Shadow and Soldier Heartless popped up, but to my surprise they didn't attack either him or me. Instead they ran ahead to the bug blocks and then on into them, as if absorbed by them.

The blocks showed no change at first, but once Data-Sora drew close they shimmered, morphed and unified into a massive Soldier Heartless. Not only did it have sparks signifying it was bugged, but it had all four colours of bug sparks on it – red to prevent it being sent stumbling, blue causing it to occasionally fade out of view except for a faint outline, yellow making it move much faster than it should, and green giving it a better defence and allowing it to take more damage in total. Evidently this was what Data-Sora had been talking about.

He took it in his stride though, keeping back when it was visible, then when it faded out using the oversized claws and arms to scramble up to the nearly invisible head to batter away at it. It seemed that while invisible, it took more damage than usual – a useful way to get around the other bug induced effects.

After a few repeats of that, the Soldier returned to a pile of blocks that quickly strung themselves together snake-like and tried to box Data-Sora in. He just jumped on top of the moving blocks, stabbed the head to make it stop moving, then went along its length carving it up into many much smaller snakes. They tried to gang up on him, but since each one was only two or three blocks long, they didn't really stand much of a chance. With the demise of the last blocks, the sector turned blue instead.

"Seriously?" I asked. "That's it?"

"Like I said, wait until Traverse Town," Data-Sora told me. "If not Wonderland, but I only managed to get there once, and I wasn't exactly in any condition to handle the card soldiers there."

"They shouldn't be that much trouble."

"You'll see," Data-Sora sighed. "I don't enjoy getting deleted, and I don't think you would in my place either. Now then, we've got another system sector at the entrance to the Secret Place where we get to do this all over again, and then the Darkside will be showing up. Care to join me this time?"

* * *

><p>With the two of us using his tactics on a second giant bugged Soldier in the second system sector, it was down almost before it was even up in the first place. Gilded Light seemed more powerful than his Keyblade, though that may just have been because I wasn't paying so much attention to him as I was dealing with the bug blocks.<p>

After the second one was cleared, we exited back out to the Destiny Islands only to find that it had been transformed to the night of the storm – complete with Riku stood on the rock with the now-restored bridge.

"Don't bother him," Data-Sora told me. "He didn't react to me or Mickey any of the times we tried."

"Maybe this time will be different because I'm here," I suggested. Can you handle the Darkside if it shows up and I'm not close enough?" Data-Sora gave me a look. "Silly question I guess. Go ahead, I want to see if he'll notice me."

Data-Sora wandered down the beach ready to meet the Darkside, while I made my way over to the rock.. As I'd suspected, Riku turned to face me.

"So you're here at last, Liam," he said in a voice that wasn't his, much like his eyes weren't their usual light blue-green. They were a deeper blue, a blue that seemed somehow innocent and childish, but at the same time filled with a timeless fury. The words had come out almost like a steely hiss. "It's about time the little King called for you."

"Who are you really?" I asked him, setting myself ready for a fight.

"You know, he tried to fight me to," Riku told me in the same rasp. "He didn't seem to like what he saw. I wonder if you'll be the same?"

"Don't be tiresome, just answer the question."

"Oh, no my little lamb," Riku smiled. "Not yet. The fun's only just begun." Then his eyes seemed to die for a moment, looking vacant before they filled with life and the blue-green they were meant to be.

"What just happened?" he asked, now in his normal voice. "And who are you? What did you do to me?" he demanded.

"I didn't do anything, Riku."

"Likely story!" he snorted. "Why else would you be ready to attack?"

"If that's all that's bothering you..." I trailed off, dismissing Gilded Light and turning away. It left my back open, but I figured Riku would recognise that I wouldn't present my back to him if he was an enemy.

"Stop right there," he told me. "You didn't answer my question."

"I told you I didn't do anything," I replied, continuing over the bridge.

"Not that one. Who are you?"

"Name's Liam. But you don't remember me, do you?"

"Liam?" he said thoughtfully. "No, I know that name... someone told me that name... who was she? Dark robes... I can't remember clearly. What's wrong with my memory?"

I left him there pondering that. I understood well enough – the Jiminy's Journal had information on Riku at various times, possibly even some speculation he might have had too. Riku here was a representation of all the entries it contained on him, and Maleficent had at one point told the real Riku my real name. Because in this datascape we had yet to reach that point he wasn't clear on the details yet, but somehow he was still remembering it.

Riku disappeared into a small cloud of darkness when I joined Data-Sora on the beach, who didn't seem to be having any trouble with the Darkside, using nearby trees to reach its arms. I didn't bother to get close myself, instead using my mostly untouched reserves of magic instead. I was a little surprised to find that even after a long while of not using it, not to mention with Roxas absent from me, it was still as potent as ever. A few Thunder spells supplementing Data-Sora's attacks sent the Darkside crashing to the ground, enveloping us in a cloud of darkness which, of course, deposited us at the front gates of Traverse Town – with three feathers descending in the air before us.


	3. The Heartless Are Here

At first glance, Traverse Town appeared to be no different than I remembered it, aside from the lack of residents and the stores and homes all being completely inaccessible. Data-Sora kept a wary eye out all the same though, and since he'd been to this bugged version of it and I hadn't I trusted in his concern.

The First District was as clear as it had always been. No Heartless to trouble us, but still no residents. Donald had been right when we'd gone through this in Castle Oblivion – it was, in a way, kind of creepy.

In comparison, the Second District was not clear. That became obvious as soon as we closed the doors behind us. In the lower area where the fountain was, a veritable army of Large Body Heartless stood waiting for us. Any movement we made, they followed.

"This is where it gets troublesome," Data-Sora told me. "As long as we don't go down there, they won't touch us, but they occupy the whole of that area – right up to the door to the Third District, which we need."

"How did you get past it before?" I asked him.

"Badly," he laughed wryly. "You haven't seen the worst of this yet. I thought if I could circle around without getting close to them, go through the Gizmo shop and up onto the rooftops, I'd be able to drop down right beside the door and get through."

"Sounds like it should work, what went wrong?"

"You've got a Heartless that's formed from your shadow, right?" I just nodded. "Well so do I. Anything I can do, so can it. The moment we get on that roof, it'll show up."

"You're overlooking one possibility," I told Data-Sora, walked to the edge just above the fountain then casually sent three Thunder spells running through the ranks of the Heartless. It wasn't enough to destroy them, but it made my point.

"At least you have magic," Data-Sora said as he joined me. "I have to wait until we get to certain parts of each world to get them, I'm guessing. I got Fire after I left Traverse Town at least. Couldn't save it so I could keep it though, and anyway you'll run out of magic long before you run out of Heartless to use it on."

"Do you have to spoil my solution?" I asked acidly.

"Better to save magic than waste it," he replied.

"I'm not out of ideas yet. Just wait and see."

Data-Sora gave me an amused look, leaning against a nearby wall to watch while I thought things through. We only actually needed the small part of this district that lead to the Third District. If I could clear that and keep the other Heartless out of it, we'd never have to face either of our two Heartless.

A Reflect spell at the entrance of the alleyway that lead to the Third District blocked out those outside it, then I started throwing all kinds of other magic into the alleyway. It worked, for a certain value of 'worked'. That is, it destroyed them, but more of them always came back faster than I could eliminate them.

"See what I mean?" Data-Sora called to me. "Not worth wasting magic on."

"That's not all I have available, you know."

"Don't do it," he told me in a hard voice. "They'll only feed on it."

"Sora's right," Mickey's voice told me. "If you go sending darkness in there with that many Heartless, you'll only be asking for trouble."

"I don't recall saying I was going to use my darkness," I replied irritably. In all truthfulness, I wasn't certain I even had it – I hadn't even touched it once.

"During one of the past trips through, Mickey told me about you," Data-Sora said. "You don't have anything else you can use, not without Roxas around." He paused then added, "That was a really stupid move you made there, you know – you're going to need him."

"Don't rub it in," I complained absently. "Fine, lets go find our way to the rooftops. There's nothing else we can do here."

The massed Heartless continued to watch us impassively as long as we didn't descend to their level, despite my attacks on them. It was unsettling, going past the hotel with their yellow eyes on us, until at last just before we headed into the Gizmo shop I snapped at them, "Cut it out, will you!"

Data-Sora and I stopped dead and stared at what happened next.

"Am I seeing things?" he asked me. "Or is that really happening."

"Mickey... please tell me you have an explanation," I said, not wanting to believe what I was seeing.

"Sorry Liam... I can't think of anything to explain this," he replied.

The Heartless hadn't just stopped staring at us, but had actually turned on each other. They were achieving more than I had been with all my magic – more of them appeared, but they seemed compelled by whatever I'd done to continue to fight each other. It wasn't long before large holes started to appear among them.

"Maybe we should chance it and hope they're distracted enough with each other," Data-Sora suggested. "Not that I don't want to play with my own Heartless of course, but I think I'd rather take a less painful route."

"You don't say," I muttered. "Keep hold of my hand," I told him then. "I'll drop down, and if they turn on me just pull me back up again."

Data-Sora nodded, taking hold of my free hand while I used a nearby bench to get down cautiously, testing the waters so to speak. The Heartless paid no attention in the slightest.

"This is unnerving," Data-Sora murmured to me as we threaded our way through the fighting, occasionally having to back off or take a different route as the battle's flow constantly shifted around us.

"Don't destroy one, whatever you do," I replied. "Whatever I did is making them ignore us and our Keyblades, I don't want to risk them all turning on us again. What did you find in the Third District?"

"What else? The Guard Armour. Just not as you know it."

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked to no one in particular.

As we passed through the smaller doors to the Third District there was a faint snarling sound that I know we both heard because we both turned to look. The only thing there was another feather. As we watched it descend, a black hand darted between us and grabbed it.

"Oh bugger," Data-Sora said when we looked back to see who it had belonged to. "Yours or mine?" he asked me.

"Mine, I think," I answered, looking at an identical image of me with the distinct yellow eyes and dark colours that signified it as my Heartless – hereafter known as Anti-Liam, to distinguish from Data-Sora's Heartless, Anti-Sora. "The clothes look more like mine than yours," I went on. "That, and you still have a shadow, I don't."

Anti-Liam appeared to be nonplussed, looking from me to Data-Sora as he calmly said, "I guess that is a bit of a give away. I wasn't really paying attention."

"Understandable," I nodded, then without warning swung my Keyblade low into the side of Anti-Liam, sending it tumbling down the steps. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," I called down to it.

Data-Sora just stared at me. "Didn't see – Liam, he was right in front of you!"

"Really? How strange I didn't notice him there. I'd better apologize to him then, hadn't I?"

I headed down the steps to Anti-Liam, which was now growling at me, then offered it a hand up. It didn't have a free hand, since it held the feather in one hand and a dark version of my Keyblade in the other, but after regarding the hand for a few moments it glared at me, dismissed its Keyblade and took the hand. I pulled hard and yanked it into a wall.

"Oops," I said, only just managing to keep a straight face. "How careless of me. I just don't seem to know my own strength."

Again Anti-Liam turned to face me, growling even more furiously than it had been before. This time I didn't bother with any theatrics, not even giving it the chance to recall its Keyblade before I descended on it with mine. I might have been a bit out of practice, I might have been low on magic, and I might have been in a data copy of Traverse Town, but I didn't let up enough to let him rearm himself.

Data-Sora, after a short delay while he'd stood watching partly in amazement at what I'd done to Anti-Liam just before, finally joined in and made life even harder for my Heartless. Eventually it seemed to get the idea that it wasn't going to get a foothold here, vanishing into the darkness.

"Behind you!" Mickey warned, and just in time too. Anti-Liam had tricked us, he hadn't disappeared into the darkness, only used one of my spells – the Teleport spell Merlin had once taught me. This had given him the chance to retrieve his Keyblade, but with his sneak attack foiled it seemed he wasn't prepared to try a second fight.

Instead Anti-Liam held his Keyblade up to the night sky above, sending a beam out as if locking a Keyhole. As it faded out, the Guard Armour dropped down, feet first, then the hands, the body and finally the head. As the head landed he threw the feather at it then vanished for good.

Now normally if you throw a feather it doesn't really go all that far, but somehow things were different here. The feather he threw launched itself from his hand like a bullet, impacting the Guard Armour with a dark flash.

At first there was no reaction to the feather, but then it became apparent the effects had just remained unseen until then. Chains erupted from the top of the feet and the hands, wrapping themselves around the body section to form arms and legs. Those from the feet continued to wrap around and over the bottom, covering the hole in the bottom that I'd exploited when I'd originally faced the Guard Armour, while those chains from the arms had snaked up and into the helmet to tie it down too.

Then the entire thing vanished, leaving a sparking black hole in the ground that occasionally flickered red.

"That's new," I noted. "Is that what you were talking about?"

"Yeah, except whenever I faced it, it already had all the chains," Data-Sora agreed. "It's gone into the system sector now. We'll have to follow it before it bugs up Traverse Town too much."

"Oh, joy," I muttered. "Because I really want to fight this thing."

"Stop complaining," Data-Sora told me.


	4. Getting a Hand

The system sector was another landscape of flat platforms and bug blocks, red because of the presence of Heartless within it. There were three distinct floors to this sector, both above the one we'd entered on and both smaller. The only access to them was through a white beam of light that went through all three, or by scaling one of the mountains of bug blocks.

The Guard Armour awaited us ahead, apparently not aggressive toward us yet. Like the Large Body Heartless had done, it merely watched me impassively from the far side of the sector.

Other Heartless between us and it though weren't so passive. While Soldiers, Scarlet Tangos and their various multi-coloured cousins aren't the most troublesome opponents, the bug blocks made it more difficult.

If one of these Heartless broke a bug block, it would become bugged itself with a random one of the four bugs. On the other hand if a Heartless ran or flew into a collection of bug blocks it would disappear and be able to emerge from any other block – even ones that weren't connected to the ones it had vanished into.

"You deal with these," I told Data-Sora. "I'll tackle the Guard Armour."

"Good luck," he answered. "Don't go for the chains though, you can't damage them."

"Leave it to me – I'll think of something."

Data-Sora quickly got the attention of the nearby Heartless, aiding me in carving a path through them to reach the Guard Armour, which still continued to watch alone. Something very strange was going on with these Heartless. Why were they not attacking me? I had a Keyblade and they certainly should have known me by now. Surely they should be trying to do _something_ about me?

The other Heartless broke off their attack when I reached the Guard Armour, turning to focus on Data-Sora. Since the Guard Armour didn't seem inclined to attack me, I checked to ensure he could handle them before I turned my attention back to the intended target.

"Why don't you command it, Liam?" It was the voice that had used Riku back on the data version of Destiny Islands. "You could make things easier for both of you. Just think what it could do to those Heartless."

I ignored the voice, assessing the situation. The Guard Armour wasn't aggressive, but no doubt would become so if I attacked it. Data-Sora had told me the chains were immune to his attacks, but I had magic and, if I really needed it, darkness I could call on. I knew how to fight this thing, but only without the addition of the chains – they complicated matters, preventing me from separating the head from the rest, which in turn prevented the component parts from being properly destroyed.

As I saw it, I had three options. Attack it directly and just keep battering away until it was destroyed as a whole, attempt some kind of magic on it, or pull out something powerful enough that would, in theory, not just deal with the chains but weaken it enough to dispatch easily.

Despite Mickey's previous warning and my own reservations, I knew I had something that fit that last perfectly, using a combination of some magic but mostly darkness.

"Oh, but we don't want to do that, do we?" the voice said as if responding to my thinking of it. "We don't like the darkness, darkness is our enemy. Just imagine what could happen to you if you did it wrong."

"Shut up," I told the voice, concentrating. Dark Aura was made for a single target, it had power behind it, and if it didn't break those chains probably nothing would.

"But there's always another option," it went on, ignoring me. "You always say that. Anything before resorting to darkness. Why don't you try a fire spell?"

"Because you want me to, and that's undoubtedly a trap."

The voice laughed a childish, happy kind of laugh, then said, "Well _done!_ Obviously anyone wanting to get the better of you will have to get up early. So what now, Keyblade Master?"

"Now you either tell me what you want from me, or leave me alone," I replied. I gave the voice some time to reply, but there was no response so I added, "That's what I thought."

A moment to focus again and I went with my original plan; Dark Aura. As the Guard Armour had remained passive, I had the edge over it. My thinking had been correct I noticed after several strikes – several chains snapped off with every blow.

On the other hand, this presented a new problem. Each and every one of the other Heartless immediately stopped dead in their attack of Data-Sora, turned and headed for me instead. With the Guard Armour now on the offensive, even with many chains either damaged or lost, this was not going in my favour.

Data-Sora was quick to come to my aid now their focus was entirely on me, the Guard Armour intervened and put itself between the two of us, preventing him from reaching me. Every time he tried to get around it, it moved with him or slammed the hands down to send a shockwave over the floor of the system sector that was avoided only by Data-Sora using the link to an upper floor – saving him, but leaving me with the Heartless to myself.

"And so the darkness grows in you again," the voice came again, sounding as if it was murmuring in my ear. "Don't you wish you could be rid of it entirely?"

"Would that I could rid myself of you," I retorted, privately agreeing with Data-Sora about having left Roxas behind already. Without him I was limited to one Keyblade and only two Drive forms – Anti and Limit. This was the sort of situation where the benefits of having him around would have turned the tables.

As it was, I was forced to fight a defensive battle, clearing the Heartless from around me while trying not to get cornered or for that matter too close to the Guard Armour, still strong enough to deal out some serious harm.

"Go on, Liam," the voice murmured again. "Why don't you use the darkness again? What's one more time? Just one more use."

"Shut up," I told it again, trying to think on the run. What if I managed to use the same link Data-Sora had, and what was he facing up there that had prevented him from coming back down again? This was something that should at least win reprieve from these Heartless and find out what I needed to know as well.

My magic was still low after my experiment back in the Second District, but what little I had was put to use throwing out a series of Reflect and chained Thundara spells, the latter creating a path for the former to protect. During that I miscasted slightly due to a Heartless hitting me, discovering the interesting effect of the two spells becoming combined, creating a barrier from Reflect that sparked, sending periodic chains of lightning through any Heartless that got too close. I never could recreate the effect a second time though.

My safe corridor had only two flaws though. The Guard Armour towered over it and frequently also destroyed chunks of it, and the Heartless were still able to flow in after me, almost climbing over each other to reach me. Since the Heartless rarely managed to get in front of me I was mostly able to hold off those behind me when they got too close, but the Guard Armour was another matter entirely. Where it's feet stomped, I had to wait for it to get clear and hope I could restore the Reflect spell in time to stop myself from being surrounded. Only a few lengths of Reflect and what should happen, but just that.

"Neku, I could use a hand here!" I snapped, doing my best to hold them off.

Nothing happened, not that I noticed. I heard a startled exclamation come faintly from above, but I couldn't see exactly what was happening – I was too busy trying not to get too swamped.

Then I saw the result as a large hand slammed down from above, the fingers squashing many Heartless, the thumb flicking the Guard Armour away easily. I watched in surprise as it ran around on the fingers, trampling the Heartless in sight or for those which were in the air, leaping up into the air, spreading wide and flattening them to the ground. Once I was safe I looked up to try and see the source of this severed hand.

The two upper levels were now on either side of the one I was one, one just slightly higher than the other. The white lines connecting them were the only evidence left of the order they'd previously been in. Nothing appeared to suggest what Neku had done – if it had been him – to cause this.

"I know I said a hand Neku, but this is just taking it too literally," I muttered.

Then I saw Data-Sora get carried along the white link to the second platform. He waved to me, then cupped his hands and yelled, "Some luck with the hand controls up here, huh? I'll have another one joining you in a moment!"

So that was where the hand had come from. Controls on the upper platforms. Sure enough, not long after Data-Sora reached the second platform, a second severed hand appeared, taking a jump off it and down to join me.

With the two giant hands on hand, if you'll excuse the pun, Data-Sora was able to herd the Guard Armour into a position that allowed me to attack unhindered. Since the chains still got in the way the first thing I did was hook one of them on the end of my Keyblade and pull it lose, repeating for each of the others. When the one for the head came lose, it fell apart and was left unmoving, an easy target to finish off.

"Another time, Liam," the voice growled in my ear. "Next time he won't be able to save you so easily."

"Why don't you come out where I can see you and say that?" I demanded, but the voice made no response.

"Who are you talking to?" Data-Sora asked, having rejoined me by then.

"Didn't you hear that voice too?"

He gave me an odd look and said, "There's a word for people who hear voices you know."

"Mickey, tell me you heard them too."

"We didn't hear a thing out here," Mickey's voice told us. "Just you talking to yourself."

"I'm not making this up, I'm telling you there was a voice I heard," I insisted. "I'll even ask Neku if you want."

"I don't think there's any need to go that far," Data-Sora put in. "We know you're strange already, it could just be something to do with that."

"How nice of you," I muttered. "You've done this before, what next?"

"Oh, nothing much. When we leave here we'll end up in Wonderland. From there on, I really couldn't tell you what will happen next, the only time I made it there-"

"Yeah, I remember you saying. Can't you see there?"

"Not until I've been there."


	5. Maze of Feathers

Like many worlds I've been to, arrival at Wonderland gave no hint of anything going on. Also like those worlds though, the lack of hints are a hint in themselves to something going on. Like Sora, trouble follows me around on these adventures – or maybe I end up following it.

Since this time Data-Sora's experience was somewhat limited, I took the lead to the Bizarre Room, which was once more true to its name. Rather than having to drink something to shrink down to size, just entering the room caused that instead. Shrinking as you walk isn't the nicest thing to do, you get nausea, vertigo and a lot of disorientation.

Data-Sora paused once the shrinking stopped, his eyes taking on a vacant, glazed look.

"Oh, great," I muttered. "No wonder you never got any further."

"His mind is just somewhere else," Neku told me, appearing nearby. "Something like Roxas, but a bit more limited. It was the best I could do with his data – things like him are just not my forte."

"Are you sticking around for a bit?"

"Not for long. Donald and Goofy disappeared, so I'm going to help Mickey find out why, if I can. Don't worry, I'll still keep watch on you and do what I can for you too."

"What about that other book? Can you tell for certain..." I left it hanging.

"No way to tell, Lee. If it is a relative, they're either very good at concealing themselves, or they're actively opposing me. I'll admit, I'm younger than some of the other books, but that just means I'm slightly less experienced than them."

"Just how old are you, Neku?"

"The answer wouldn't have any meaning for you," he told me. "Good luck," he said, then disappeared again.

"Something's happening in the queen's court," Data-Sora told me. "I can't tell what, I just had this sudden sight of cards running around there. Couldn't hear a thing though."

"That's our first stop then. Hopefully the Queen of Hearts won't get in our way."

Aside from a pair of Novashadows in the area between the hedge mazes, nothing did get in our way – and even those two fell oddly quickly to the two of us, leaving two feathers floating down in their place, only to disappear when they hit the floor.

Data-Sora's vision was fairly accurate as we entered the small alcoves just before the main court itself. The playing cards were running around aimlessly, often bumping into each other, after conflicting orders given out by the white rabbit and, oddly, Alice.

"Search for her Majesty in the forest!" the white rabbit called out, and the cards turned and collided with each other on the way there.

"No, no!" Alice shouted, stomping one food. "Look in the mazes! I'm telling you I saw her there!" The cards turned again, heading for the hedges we were hiding behind.

"Absolute nonsense," the white rabbit declared. "She was seen running into the forest!" Again, the cards turned.

"She was in the red rose maze!" Alice insisted. Another turning of the cards.

"They'll be at this all day if we don't do something," I muttered.

"Let them," Data-Sora remarked with amusement. "We can go find the Queen ourselves and take all the credit for it. It's not like the card soldiers are any good on their own if there are Heartless around."

That gave me an idea. I stepped out into view, only to be pulled back by him.

"What are you doing?"

"Trust me," I replied.

"Oh, gods," he muttered. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this."

"Stop that and let go of me," I told him, then stood in the heart shaped archway. "Stop that and listen to me, all of you!" I barked. Even Alice and the white rabbit complied. "Look at you, arguing over something completely stupid," I scolded them. "I count at least a dozen cards here, and probably more. Now, there are two mazes and the forests to search. Since the white rabbit believes the Queen is there, he can take all but one of the black playing cards that way to search for her. Alice can take all but one of the red ones with her to search the red rose maze. The last two cards will come with me and search the white rose maze." I stopped and watched them staring at me. "Don't just stand there you morons, move it! Do you want to find her or not?"

There was another sudden rush as all the cards gathered around Alice or the rabbit, none of them apparently wanting to come with me until Data-Sora joined me and pointed at two of them saying, "You and you. Get over here and come with us."

"You've got the same abrasive touch I have," I muttered to him.

"Blame yourself for that. Do we really have to take them along?"

"The Keyblades know their allies, Sora," I replied. "If we bring them along, they'll share in its effects. That's why Donald and Goofy were hopeless against the Heartless until they teamed up with me. Oh, stop that," I told the two cards, who were trying at the same time to stand to attention, but keep away from me. "I'm not the one you should be afraid of.."

"Are you sure about that?" It was that damned voice again, once more sounding like it was camped right on my shoulder. Since neither card or Data-Sora had made any reaction, I assumed they hadn't heard it again and ignored it. It didn't ignore me though.

"You know you have to be careful," it reminded me. "Just one mistake, and all that darkness comes out uncontrolled. It would be terrible if that happened, wouldn't it? But what if there was a way to rid yourself of it entirely? To have that dark being you are at heart, gone forever? Wouldn't you like to be free of your darkness, Liam?"

I continued to try and ignore it, which didn't do much except erode away at my rapidly shortening patience. All manner of unpleasant things came to mind when I considered the idea of finding him.

The white rose maze would have been aptly named, and probably had been once. Now however, the Queen's probably prized white rose bushes that made up the maze were growing feathers instead. Even the leaves looked like miniature versions of it.

There was a pattern to them though. Only the routes that led nowhere seemed to have changed their leaves and roses for feathers. Data-Sora paused again once we realized this and, he told us, followed the route with his mind to try and figure out what it was trying to lead us to. All he could tell us was that it lead to an open area where the real Roxas, not mine, had once fought a Commander Heartless alongside Luxord.

He and I warily lead the way, with the reluctantly following card soldiers flanking us to prevent any attacks from the sides. These mazed were ideal for an ambush, never knowing what lay around the next corner, or in the side paths of junctions we weren't going to take. Every time we took a step, a feather fell behind us, when it landed vanishing with a small pulse of air that turned the feathered hedges and roses back to normal. This was a one-way route we were being lead on.

As an experiment, we stopped part way to allow Data-Sora to try and take a wrong turning on purpose, only to find thorny vines quickly sprout to bar his path. Clearly whatever was here was actively at work herding us toward it.

"I don't like this," Data-Sora muttered. "Anything could be waiting for us at the end of this. It could be a trap."

"It probably is," I agreed. "But we don't seem to have any choice in the matter. I imagine if we tried to turn back, those vines would stop us again."

"Maybe whatever it is, has the Queen," one of the two cards suggested.

Data-Sora and I shared a look.

"I suppose it's possible," he told me. "The Queen might be construed as the logical ruler of this world. She has the title, crown and everyone – well, almost everyone – does what she says. Anyone looking to cause chaos in this world would be right to go to her."

"At least until I came along and put it in some semblance of order... now it's looking for me."

"And I won't let you get away so easily this time," the voice murmured in my ear. Confirmation, even if I couldn't tell the others. Only Neku and I knew about it, and I wasn't sure about Neku either.

So we continued through the maze until we reached the ending that Data-Sora had told us about, only to find it was no longer empty.

"What are you doing here?" Riku demanded of me, acting as if Data-Sora wasn't even there. "No doubt you're the one who kidnapped the Queen!"

"Don't be ridiculous Riku, why would I be looking for her with them," I jerked a thumb to the card just beside me, "If I was the one who'd kidnapped her in the first place? And how do we know _you're_ not the one responsible for it?"

"What makes you think I'd have anything to do with it anyway?" he retorted.

"What about the maze that just guided us all the way to you – you stuck here in this corner of the maze with nowhere else to go? What are you up to, Riku?"

"What makes you think I'm Riku?" he replied, his voice different – identical to the one I'd been hearing, the one that had temporarily spoken through Riku back on the Destiny Islands.

"You!" I snapped. "You're the voice I've been hearing – show yourself!"

"Oh, no my little lamb," he answered with another of his light-hearted laughs. "I don't see why I should do that just yet."

"Bet?" I asked with a vicious grin. "You're either using Riku, or you're just pretending to be him. Either way, there's something there which isn't right – something that can be cured."

"You think you can heal me into showing myself?" he laughed. "This I have to see."

"As you wish. _Esuna_!" I commanded, using a bit of magic I seldom used. Although to be fair, before this adventure had started I seldom used any magic, but that was for different reasons.

Esuna is meant to cure the target of any abnormalities, normally within reason. During the time between getting back to my own life and starting this adventure, Neku had told me that in order to help Xion overpower Xen (see the end of MetaStory Switch), he'd had to remove some of the limits on my own Esuna. Note 'some'; he didn't mean I could go around curing everyone of everything, he just made it far more potent.

From the view point I have now of post-adventure, I can also explain that because it was something Neku had done and not Charlie, for of course that was who the voice was, Charlie had no power to alter it any further, nor to influence its intended effects.

So when I cast it, the figure of Riku was washed away like wet paint in the rain, running down and into the ground to reveal the white clothed figure we of course know as Charlie. It was this moment immediately after unveiling him that Roxas had seen not long before Charlie forced him to forget.

Charlie didn't seem concerned with what I'd done though, apparently just standing there accepting what had happened with a childish grin.

"Oh, very good," he nodded appreciatively. "I can see he's done some nice work with you. You'll be a stimulating opponent, no doubt about it."

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"The name is Charlie," he announced grandly. "As for what I want... catch me if you can!" he laughed, disappearing into a cloud of feathers. "And don't forget to enjoy the present I left for you in the local system sector," his voice said afterwards. "Dear Alice should be finding it just about..." He paused long enough to allow a scream to pierce the area. "Now!" he finished happily.


	6. Blazing Geysers

In my insistence to reach whatever Alice had found before Charlie came up with any more annoyances, I cheated once again. I do that a lot. Only this time it was different.

"Another hand if you don't mind, old friend," I said, meaning Neku as I made some attempt to climb up the side of one of the hedges. The two card soldiers watched dumbly for a moment before giving me a hand up, and then Neku's assistance took effect, causing the top of the hedges to become a solid platform safe to walk on.

I pulled Data-Sora up behind me, then set off. There was only one exit to this maze, and since Alice was in the other maze there was only one route to take. Another pair of Novashadows assaulted us as we passed through the area between the two mazes, though in a fit of irritation I sent them both flying clear out of our way with Zero Graviga, leaving them in a dazed heap. Magic has it's good points.

Neku's effects lingered in this maze too, allowing us to skip the tedious track through it and just use the top of the hedges to get around, which was just as well after we passed the first junction there. The grassy floor gave way sharply to a glitched in pit. And not an empty pit either, a lot of Heartless were waiting at the bottom, staring up at me as if expecting me to join them.

"Don't bother," I told Data-Sora as he started to cast Fire at them. "They aren't doing anyone any harm, and once we debug the system sector they'll be gone anyway."

"Question is, where is the system sector?" he asked.

"Sora!" Alice's voice called out from one corner of the maze. "Liam! Do something!"

"That answer your question?" I said, taking a few moments to plan a route to where I judged her to be, then started off again.

"Liam, wait a moment!" Data-Sora called after me, running to keep up. "Alice doesn't know either of our names. This could be a trap."

"I'll take the chance that Charlie's playing games with us," I replied, not slowing.

Data-Sora had been right though. We reached the corner of the maze only to find a feather laying where the floor should have been, hanging above the pit below.

"You said you can see other parts of worlds once you've been to them," I said to Data-Sora then. "Do that – find out where she is."

"Why didn't I think of that before?" he muttered, closing his eyes to focus. "There!" he gestured with his Keyblade after a moment, aiming it for the far corner.

"Of course. Lure us out of position. Let's get over there quickly, before he has any more of a chance to obstruct us."

Charlie didn't seem to want to obscure us, at least not at first. Data-Sora had chosen to take a different path to me, reasoning that at least one of us could get to the system sector to help Alice, but by the time we'd both reached about half way across the maze, feathers started falling again, all around us.

Every time they touched on a hedge, a section of it fuzzed, glitched, then turned into a bug block – which then in turn was sucked up into the air toward the system sector. It wasn't long before both Data-Sora and I were having to duck under low-flying blocks and also try to keep ahead of the falling feathers so we wouldn't be dropped into the pits below.

"You're being dense again, Liam," Neku sighed, appearing to run alongside me. "Look down at where I am."

I looked, then laughed. Neku was running where the hedges had been, and even where they hadn't been.

"Does he knew?" I nodded to Data-Sora.

"I thought you should know first. Better hurry," he added, ducking as I struck a block that came too close, destroying it. "Thanks. Anyway, you'd better get to the system sector quick. Charlie's up to something."

"Nice observation, captain obvious," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Be nice," Neku chided, then vanished so he could reappear near Data-Sora.

The access to the system sector hovered over the pit below, a mass of blues, reds and blacks that was still sucking in the newly created bug blocks. I don't like to test my faith – not that I have much faith in many things – but taking even a running leap from the unseen platforms Neku had provided into that access really pushed at it.

I had a job to do though, so there was nothing else for it. Data-Sora wasn't far behind me as I dived straight into it, hoping it'd actually transfer me to the system sector and that I wouldn't just go straight through and out the other side.

Predictably knowing my luck, Data-Sora landed on top of me when he joined me in the system sector. The bug blocks were still flying here, flocking together toward a towering figure that I easily identified – the Trickmaster, the boss Heartless I had fought here in Wonderland.

There were three key differences here though. First, Alice was unconscious next to the return access portal. Second, rather than just having its twin batons on fire, the entire Trickmaster was ablaze. And third... when I'd faced it originally, I'd cheated once again, having kept one of the 'drink me' bottles to hand so I could match it for size. No such luck here... unless...

"Sora, take Alice and go back to the Bizarre Room," I told him. "Take the growth drink off the table, get Neku to give you a hand if you need, and bring it here."

"You can't fight that thing alone, Lee!" he protested. "It's massive, and it's growing with every bug block that hits it! I'm amazed it hasn't become bugged yet!"

"Don't you dare jinx it," I said darkly. "Just trust me and move!"

Data-Sora didn't answer back this time. I shared his concerns, but I didn't see what good it would do having him stay either. At least this way he'd be able to return with some aid for us, and Alice would be safe – she might have only been the data-version of Alice, but there's no telling if her status accounted for something in the datascape as well.

However, now I was faced with the ever growing fiery outline of the Trickmaster and I had to come up with a plan. Similar to the Guard Armour, it seemed passive for the moment – but experience told me that it wouldn't remain so once I started to attack.

Then it surprised me and sent a round of blazing white fireballs at me. It was hostile alright, no need to confirm that! I had no idea what I was going to do to it still, but between running right for it and a quickly raised Reflect, the first round of fireballs missed me entirely.

I wasn't going to be getting too close to it though, that much quickly became clear. These might have been the magic clothes the good fairies had given me back in Yen Sid's tower, clothes that negated cold and heat, but the Trickmaster's fire was too much for them to handle. I could feel the heat all too soon, and worse I could see around its feet looked like a mass of ashes, cinders and melting platform. No easy way out through battering away at it!

I needed something to counter the fire, something that could lessen the effect it was having if not also put it out entirely. I kept my distance between it and the access portal, knowing too well that if it escaped it could set the whole of Wonderland alight, racking my brains for any ideas.

A round of Blizzaga spells decimated my magic reserves, but at least started to have an effect. The massive heat of the Trickmaster started the shards of ice before any of them got close enough to do any more than make the flames sputter slightly.

There had to be something I could do, something I was overlooking. What did I have, two forms, Anti and Limit, access to the weapons of the defeated Organization members through Limit form, a few drops of magic left, darkness to spare that I didn't trust to have enough of an effect here, Dimension Links with my various friends and allies on the last adventure-

That was it – a Dimension Link. I hadn't seen Demyx for a long while, not since a brief call I paid on him some time after he'd been returned to Radiant Garden, but I reasoned that as one of my allies I should have a link with him. Maybe the ice magic hadn't done much, but my magic was broad and generalized, Demyx's was tightly focused on water alone. Would it be enough? One way to find out. I almost laughed when I realized what I'd have to say to call on it though, knowing Demyx.

"Lend me your strength, Demyx," I muttered, willing the link to take hold. Gilded Light glowed in my hand, taking on a more blue colour scheme to it's usual golden whites to reflect my link. The question now was, how did I make use of this borrowed power?

The Trickmaster had seized the chance to make an attack, one of the flaming batons roaring down towards me. Only the sudden rise in heat forewarned me enough to jump clear, showing the first of the effects of Demyx's Link. A geyser erupted where I had been moments before, shooting up to meet the descending baton. The spray of water that shot out around the baton when it encountered the pressure of the rising water caused an instant shower that doused much of the Trickmaster's legs, but its quick reaction to the sudden water caused it to draw back before any more was extinguished into a few confused wisps of smoke. I had a weapon I could use at last.

It was selective though, if I took a jump or leap, a geyser would spring up at the point I left, otherwise nothing happened. The geysers eventually ran out, but that took time, leaving a barrier that the Trickmaster wouldn't want to cross for losing the last of its advantage. I created several geysers around the access to prevent it from escaping me now, ensuring there would be enough of a gap for Data-Sora to return, then started to advance on the Trickmaster again.

When it saw I wasn't leaving a trail of geysers behind me, it rushed to the attack once again. It had re-lit the other baton, but the legs remained unlit for now. It may have had size and fire on its side, but I had a plan.

I watched it carefully dancing clear of the batons when it swiped them at me, trying to get as close as I dared. If I could just get close enough, I'd be able to set off a geyser right underneath it, one that would put it out for good.

It seemed to know that as well as I did though, avoiding giving me the chance to get close enough. I needed a distraction now. What would Demyx have done, I thought to myself – besides run away, at least before he'd turned traitor and joined me.

The answer was simple – water forms. How was I going to achieve that though? I had a Keyblade, not a sitar, and I'm fairly tone-deaf. Least I could do was try though, and the best I managed was a kind of tuneless humming.

It was enough though. Once I started to get the hang of humming and fighting at the same time, every change in note caused water to form into the shape of that note. I had to keep humming though or they started to lose cohesion.

Before long before I had a small swarm of them flitting around, none of them individually much of a threat to the Trickmaster, but combined they could potentially put out parts of the remaining fire. The Trickmaster evidently saw this too, starting to attack them as well as me.

I spotted Data-Sora return through the geyser wall I'd left, awkwardly hauling the growth 'drink me' can that was larger than he was. I'd forgotten to take that into account when I'd made the wall, he could get through but not the can.

An opportunity presented itself perfectly right there though. As the Trickmaster looked up to see this curious arrival, its attention was distracted long enough for me to get right underneath it, jump aside and leave a geyser splashing up around it, dousing all but a few tiny fragments of fire.

I left it struggling with that as the other geysers started to settle down, heading for Data-Sora.

"Still think I can't fight it alone?" I asked him slyly. "Give me a hand getting a drink from this and I'll finish it."

"Don't I even get a chance to join in the fun?" Data-Sora asked.

"Oh, alright. You can finish it off then."

Data-Sora quickly grew in size to match the Trickmaster, who was struggling free of the blasting water. He gave it enough of a chance to realize what it was facing, then gave no quarter in his own assault, finishing the nuisance for good.

Now we were well and truly in uncharted territory. No idea which world would come next or what to expect there.


	7. Unwanted Influence

Olympus Coliseum. Every time I come here, I seem to find a new part of the world to visit. My first trip was just the courtyard outside, the lobby and the arena, then later I had access to the Underworld beneath and after being sent back in time, the town near Thebes too.

This time, as far as I could immediately tell, I was in some kind of holding cell with Data-Sora nowhere to be seen. The Coliseum's typical sun-blasted yellow stones made up the walls, floor and ceiling, thick metal bars made up the front of the cell and it's door giving a wonderful view of a dark and none too clean corridor beyond, and a small recess in the back wall that was similarly barred showed a view of clouds.

I took stock quickly, finding the cell to be unfurnished in the slightest and the door to be conspicuously missing a lock – conspicuous and convenient that it should be missing, when I happen to have a key that unlocks any lock.

The bars stubbornly resisted any attempts I made to damage them either magically or by force, leaving me with one option left.

"Neku?" I murmured, not knowing who or what occupied the cells either side of my own. "Can you get me out of the slammer?"

"Something's interfering again," he replied similarly, not bothering to appear. There wouldn't really have been enough room for the both of us anyway. "You'll have to find the way out the old fashioned way."

I grunted with mild disappointment, but was intrigued. Here was a challenge that might actually take thinking to get out of. "Any progress with Donald and Goofy, by the way?" I asked.

"Nothing yet. Try not to get in any trouble will you?"

I chose not to answer that, instead leaning up against the bars to try and see any more. Aside from being able to see down the narrow corridor all the cells adjoined on to, there was nothing new.

"Sora?" I called out. "Are you there?"

"He could be if you want him to be," an unfamiliar voice grated. "So could anyone else you want," it went on."

"Oh shut up down there," yet another voice snapped irritably. "Some of us are trying to rest up before our battles."

"Oh because of course we need our beauty sleep," the first voice replied snidely. I left them to argue with each other, whoever they were, and put that idea down as unworkable. Either Data-Sora hadn't been brought here, or he had, but not with me.

I tried examining the barred door, but found little of any use. It hinged outside the cell on hinges that were clearly designed to prevent the door from being lifted off them, and the entire thing was set into the frame in such a way that there didn't even appear to be any kind of lock on it. From the looks of it, it should have been able to open as it was, but something prevented it.

Whatever was going on here, I was stuck with it for now. I'd have to wait and see what happened.

As it happened, though probably not by any stroke of luck either good or bad, I didn't have to wait long before someone familiar, if unwelcome, came into earshot.

"We have some real contenders down here right now," Hades was busy telling someone, though I couldn't see him or who he was talking to. "Once you've picked your team, just keep up your end of the bargain and I'll pit them against the fuzzy kid and jerk-boy."

Fuzzy kid. A bad nickname Hades had for Sora. Data-Sora was definitely here, and if 'jerk-boy' was Hercules, I had a fair idea of what was going on. Hades' unidentified friend had apparently come to some kind of agreement with him that was probably aimed at getting the two of them out of his way. The question was, who was that other person?

"Any of them stick out, just say the word," Hades went on, his voice coming closer. "The old goat will tell you fair is fair and it should be two on two, but hey, who cares in the name of some good clean fun? After all, all's fair in war and hero bashing, right?"

"You tell me, you're the one who does this for a living." I bunched my hands into fists when I heard the voice. I knew exactly who it was, and I didn't like the implications of it. It was, of course, Charlie. I drew back into my cell as if it would keep me hidden from him.

"Of course I'm right, I'm a god," Hades said, almost tossing it off negligently. "You don't argue with a god, especially not the god of the dead."

"Him," Charlie said, still out of sight. "If your other 'contenders' are half as good as I expect they are, and my other expectations are correct... he'll cause no end of trouble for them."

"Forget it," the unmistakable voice of Tron told Charlie. "This isn't my fight."

"Do you want to bet on that?" Charlie said in an angelic voice. There was an odd fluttering sound for a few moments, then Tron muttered something. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." Charlie said sweetly.

"I said, I'll do it," Tron said, though he didn't seem happy about it.

"I'm so happy to hear that," Charlie said. "Hades here will come and fetch you when it's time, of course."

"Don't get your hopes up though," Hades added. "See anyone else you want?" he asked Charlie.

"Oh, I'm fairly sure there's another one in here somewhere. I'll know him when I see him."

I knew alright. Charlie was looking for me now, and he was going to try and pit Tron and me against Hercules and Data-Sora. Though I knew it was unlikely to make a difference, I turned my back on the cell front and made some show of staring out at the clouds outside instead.

"Plenty of choice to pick from," Hades told Charlie. "The various titans are always popular. 'course, they keep getting defeated too, but can't be helped. The little divine brat just seems to shrug off everything I throw at him."

"That's because you only ever send one against him," Charlie told him smugly. "And because you're stupid, but you won't be remembering I said that."

There was a pause, then Hades said, "I'm sorry, what were you saying? I must have just fuzzed out there for a moment."

"Oh, nothing," Charlie answered. You could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Here he is. I want him." I knew they were talking about me.

"Not my fight," I muttered back over my shoulder, not looking back.

"Bet?" Charlie asked in the same honeyed tones he'd given Tron.

"Not with you. You can go to hell before I'll do anything you want me to."

"Lemme handle this one," Hades advised Charlie. "Some of them aren't entirely housebroken yet, y'know?" I heard him vanish from outside the cell, reappearing nearby just inside to take my shoulder with one hand.

"Back off," I snapped at him, shoving it roughly away. "I'd tell you to go to hell too, but the Underworld already is a hell in itself. I doubt the dead like you any more than they did when they were living."

"Now listen here you little runt," he started, but got no further because he got the full force of my shoving him hard against the cell bars, for, what else, his 'little runt' remark. Those of you who remember the first visit I ever made to Olympus Coliseum will also remember I don't like those kind of remarks directed at me.

Hades prudently decided to avoid me and stay outside the cell after that little assault on him. Charlie had just stood outside with his arms crossed and a broad smile across his still angelic looking face.

"Now let me show you how it's really done," he told Hades. He reached one arm over his shoulder, plucking at something unseen with his fingers. This caused one of those familiar long, white feathers to appear in his hand.

The feather was twirled between his fingers, then just as Anti-Liam had to the Guard Armour, he threw it through the bars of the cell at me. The cell didn't leave me enough room to evade it, causing the fluttering sound to fill the air when it caught me. Charlie was quite suddenly right in front of me, disturbingly close.

"You're going to do what we want," he told me in a dreadfully quiet and strangely compelling voice that wasn't anything like his usual cheerful tones. "You're going to go with Hades when he comes for you, and you're going to fight alongside our other warriors. No matter who you go up against, you're going to fight them, and you're going to fight them with everything you've got as if you hate them so much that complete and total annihilation is the only option."

Then as suddenly as he'd appeared, he was back outside the cell again and the fluttering was gone. With it I found a new hatred for Data-Sora and Hercules blossoming. Somehow, Charlie's words had been compelling enough to make them happen. I should have realized what that meant there and then, but I was distracted by what he'd just done to me.

"Just don't make me wait," I told the expectantly waiting Hades. Charlie's smirk grew even more pronounced.

"You see?" he told Hades as they moved on. "Just as I told you. It works every time, even on the most arrogantly stubborn ones."

"Neat little trick," Hades' retreating voice remarked. "Will it still work after this?"

"If he survives," Charlie said in a chillingly off-hand manner. "Let's add this one into the mix too. We'll make the kid back there the leader of our motley little crew, and this one and the other will go along with whatever he comes up with. After all," he laughed. "If they don't win, they're gone for good."

"Why don't we talk about what you're going to do for me in return for this?" Cloud's voice asked. Interesting choices, I noted absently. Tron and Cloud. That could make for some interesting tactics, if I planned things right. I already had a general idea of how Data-Sora and Hercules would fight even if outnumbered. All I had to do was exploit it.

"What do you want?" Charlie asked Cloud benignly.

"Just take me to where Sephiroth is," he answered shortly.

"_After_ you win your match, dear boy," Charlie told him. "I'm sure you heard what was said just now though, so do trust in your dear leader now, there's a good chap. I think these three will do perfectly, Hades. Why don't we go up to the Coliseum and lure our so-called Heroes in so we can get the fun started already?"

I spent the intervening time planning. Charlie's influence had set me against two who should have been my friends, and because of that I thought hard to find ways to keep them busy. Tron of course would have to take a supporting role, his Identity Disk was an ideal ranged attack that would allow him to irritate from afar. Cloud and I would have to tackle Hercules and Data-Sora though, to prevent either of them from taking on Tron.

Cloud would have to deal with Hercules, I decided. He could move much faster and keep himself between Hercules and Tron, all the while dealing out attacks that would force Hercules into trying to deal with him.

As for Data-Sora, of course I'd have to take him on. His Keyblade made that clear, no less than another Keyblade was going to defeat it. He'd be hopelessly outmatched with his limited skills in comparison to me, but that would only make it all the easier. Once he was out the way it'd leave Hercules alone to try and defeat the three of us.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew what I was doing was still ultimately wrong, but as Roxas also discovered, when Charlie decides you're going to do something, you do just that. Despite Neku's various influences on me over time, he'd not done enough to prevent Charlie's own influence working on me.

Now all I had to do was wait for Hades to come along.


	8. The Games Begin

During the time I waited for Hades, I called on a useful minor effect Neku had left me with that allowed me to call up the books documenting my previous adventures, glancing through them to find more ideas. Data-Sora was effectively a slightly limited version of myself before I'd gone to Castle Oblivion, meaning that he was missing certain things I'd gained.

It's hard to figure out a way to defeat yourself though, my own Heartless excepted, so I turned to Roxas's story. I'd had a chance to briefly glance into it before Mickey's letter had persuaded me to lend him a hand, but had never finished reading it. Now in the time I had to spare, I looked into it and found a little inspiration.

Roxas experimented a few times with fusing spells, much like you meld deck commands in Birth by Sleep and Re:Coded. I had much more magic on hand than Data-Sora had, and many of my spells had become more effective since Merlin had me properly learn them some time before. Maybe the miscast Reflect I'd made back when fighting the Guard Armour had actually been an inadvertently fused spell?

Plenty of opportunities for magical mayhem sprung to mind, if I could figure out the right combination. Trial and error might not be the best approach, but I figured most likely that view would only be shared by Data-Sora and Hercules, and no thanks to Charlie, I wasn't concerned about their view.

"Hey – nose outta the book," Hades' voice told me, interrupting my thoughts. I looked up to see he'd opened the door to the cell, Cloud waiting just behind him, his face a mystery as always. Like everyone else who was a part of the journal's datascape, he took on the appearance he had when I first met him.

"About time," I murmured, closing the book. Neku's lasting effect caused it to vanish again, since I didn't need it any longer. "Where's Charlie?"

"No concern of yours, now come along. You've got a battle to fight, and you don't want to be late."

"So he's there, is he?" I asked, tagging along as Hades led the way, heading toward where Tron's voice had come from earlier. I glanced into the various cells along the way, spotting many mythical creatures. A shrunken down Hydra that looked in bad shape, a Centaur that had to duck down to fit under the low ceiling, even a great lion that watched me pass with interest.

"If you mean the fuzzy kid and his friends, sure," Hades answered. "You ain't going up against them first though, the only way I got that old goat to let you in was by putting you into the Games as a team."

"Hold it," Cloud said. "Our agreement was for the fight with this 'fuzzy kid' of yours, not with the others in-between."

"What's wrong, Cloud?" I asked, then said something I never would have had it not been for Charlie. "Afraid you'll lose in a random skirmish before you reach some half-pint hero and a washed up son of a god?"

Cloud said nothing as we paused outside the cell that presumably contained Tron, I couldn't see around Hades to find out. A thickly veiled Gorgon in the neighbouring cell looked me over, then identified itself as the voice accused of needing beauty sleep when it said, "I can see the book-boy has got his claws sunk in you."

At the time I thought it meant Neku, but obviously it really meant Charlie.

Hades meanwhile had unlocked and opened the next cell, stepping ahead to allow Tron out. Except, he didn't look like Tron at all, it took me a few moments to recognise him. He now had red circuits over him instead of his original blue, and wore a helmet that was reminiscent of the one Vanitas once had. This was Rinzler, Tron as he appeared for much of Tron: Legacy.

He gave me a look, what kind was impossible to tell with his helmet, then waited for us to pass so he could fall into step behind Cloud and me. Already I was rethinking my strategy to take into account this unexpected development, as Rinzler was capable of a much more vicious fighting style than had he still been simply Tron. If he was capable of everything the Rinzler of the movie was, he had two Identity Disks and would be just as dangerous up close as he was from a distance. Unless Data-Sora brought more backup, he was in real trouble now.

"I hope you've got a plan," Cloud said to me. "I'm not getting myself beaten up for nothing here."

"Stop worrying," I told him easily. "We can't lose. Hit 'em hard and fast, don't even give them the chance to retaliate. You're a heavy hitter at close range, our quiet friend back there is good at close up and far off, and so am I. Between us, nothing can stand in our path."

Rinzler leaned forward and merely murmured, "Don't jinx us."

"As if," I snorted. "Hey, flame brains. How many rounds of the Games until we meet our match?"

Hades overlooked the remark for some reason, continuing to lead us past more cells that were empty. "Three rounds. A couple of regulars who are back for more, a round of Heartless, then you're there."

"Who're the regulars?"

"A kid named Zack by himself, and a duo that teamed up with little fuzzy last time. Only this time they're entering separately, and with a new friend too."

"Donald and Goofy," I said, realizing immediately it had to be them. "But who's their new friend, I wonder?"

"What's wrong?" Cloud asked me with a hint of an edge. "Concerned their friend might knock you out before you get to your match?"

"Get real. I don't give up for anything."

"Wait here," Hades told us when we approached the large, barred exit that lead to the Coliseum proper. The stands were already filled with crowds waiting for the imminent Games, and just opposite us at the entrance from the lobby, I could see Phil with the two other teams standing by. Data-Sora with Hercules on one side, and Donald and Goofy on the other. Just behind them I spotted their new friend – Neku was with them. I wasn't quite as sure of myself now I knew I could be going up against the same person who's book I'd promised to protect.

Hades had left us just out of sight of the arena and opposing teams, so they still had no idea who awaited them.

"That kid is our opponent?" Cloud mused. "I doubt he'll be much of a threat."

"Don't underestimate him," I told him. "He's got a Keyblade, same as I do, and probably a bit of magic behind him too. Nothing on _my_ kind of level though."

"And your other acquaintances?" Rinzler prompted.

"Them? Small fries. Without Sora they're no threat. Donald has a bit of magic to him, Goofy can soak up damage like there's no tomorrow, and Neku..." I broke off.

"Their friend?" Cloud asked. I just nodded. "What's up?"

"It's nothing," I replied after a time. "I just never expected to go up against him again. Where's Hades?" I said to change the subject. "I want to find out what order the rounds are going in."

"Then let me clear that up for you," Hades said, reappearing nearby. "The Games are held in two blocks. Fuzzy there trounced A Block without a hitch, probably thanks to Charlie's 'assistance'. You'll be entering into B Block. First round you face the other team you can see there," he pointed toward Donald, Goofy and Neku. "Rules say our winners from A Block aren't allowed to interfere, so you don't have to worry about them just yet. Round two is Zack, he's no trouble at all. Just plough through him and the Heartless in the following round, and you're set."

Something prompted me to ask, "And in the unlikely event we lose, what then?"

"Then I pull in other contenders, and you get to enjoy my company in the underworld for all eternity."

"Charming thought," Rinzler muttered sardonically.

"Oh, by the way," Hades threw back to us as he headed to the far side of the gates. "Charlie says you'd better win this, or he'll arrange for trouble to visit the Coliseum. Personally I don't care what happens to the Coliseum, I just want the divine brat out the way," he went on casually, as if discussing the weather, then glanced out then added, "You're on any moment now. Good luck, or whatever it is you mortals say to each other."

During Hades' explanation, Phil had shooed Data-Sora and Hercules out of sight, leaving us with our first round. As Charlie had not set me against them, I wasn't entirely happy about this. He had, however, conveniently covered that though. His influence had been very specific – whoever I went against, I'd go all-out against.

Neku took the place either Sora or I would have, leading Donald and Goofy into the arena itself. I faintly heard Mickey's voice say something to him, but the specifics were lost to the noise of the crowd. Neku appeared to hear fine though, I could see him answer back despite not being able to hear him.

Then the bars were lowered into the ground and it was our turn to take the field. Like Neku had them, I lead Cloud and Rinzler after me, ignoring the crowd's somewhat negative reaction. Either Charlie had been at work again, or someone had been telling them stories about us... or me.

It was clearly evident they recognised me without a doubt, I didn't need to hear what they said to know that. We took our place, and the crowd fell quiet.

"Don't do this, Liam," Neku told me ominously. "You know what I can do. I fought you once before and I can do it again."

"As I recall, we never finished that fight," I answered. "You ran away when you caught Roxas's counter to your barrier. Why don't we conclude it here and now – on the same terms as it was then? Nothing fancy but what Neku can really do."

"You won't fight fairly," Neku pointed out. "You don't like the darkness, but I've yet to see anyone use it as creatively as you can – let alone your magic. If you unleash that, why should I hold back?"

"Because what I have is already real, dear boy," I smiled benignly. "Whereas you would have to make what you want reality instead. Keep it real, and it'll be fair."

"You don't seriously expect me to keep to that?" he demanded half-heartedly.

I just drew my Keyblade in response, Cloud following suit with the massive bandage-wrapped sword he has, while on the other side of me Rinzler detached his Identity Disk from his back, split it so he held one in each hand and assumed a battle stance.

"Neku," Donald started, but he waved him into silence.

"So be it," he nodded calmly. "I won't change reality – but I _will_ make use of reality as it already is, complete with my alterations!"

And then in his hand, he drew out not just any Keyblade, but one that had been kept safe for so long in Mickey's hands. The counterpart to my original Keyblade, the Kingdom Key D. If Neku had changed reality so he could take it up, what else did he have backing him up, even if he did choose not to make further changes?

"You know what you have to do," Charlie's voice whispered in my ear. "Just as I said. You're going to fight them with everything you've got as if you hate them so much that complete and total annihilation is the only option. You're mine now, and he has no hold on you. Turn the tables on him, Liam. Don't let me down."

The sounds of the crowd around filtered back into audibility, chanting one word. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" coming from all around.

I glanced once to Cloud and Rinzler, then knowing full well this could be a mistake, I gave them the first command of the battles I'd face with them.

"Attack! Leave no man standing!"


	9. Round One

Regardless of whatever change had allowed him to take up Mickey's Kingdom Key, Neku was not as skilled with it as I was. The moment the last echoes of my command had faded I lunged for him with Gilded Light already striking down toward his Keyblade, nearly jarring it from his hand before he'd responded.

On my left I heard the metal clang of Cloud's blade bounce harmlessly off Goofy's shield, then clearly heard Goofy answer with a Thunder spell. These were clearly Donald and Goofy from outside the datascape – the missing ones Neku had been looking for, not their local counterparts.

Donald further proved this by sending a rapid stream of Firagas toward Rinzler, who agilely dodged each of them, either by going around, over or underneath them. Donald had to recover quickly and move quicker to avoid getting caught by either of Rinzler's two Disks, one of which was hurled after him.

After taking a pause to take this in, I returned my attention to Neku. The two of them were more than a match for Donald and Goofy, Neku was my responsibility. He'd been right on all scores about me before the battle, now I decided it was time to prove that.

We circled each other like a pair of duelling wolves, eyes locked on each other watching for any hint of a move being made. Occasionally one of the other two fights would cross between us, but we paid it no attention in the slightest, one lapse of concentration by one of us would leave us open for the other.

Neku made the next move, using an old ability from the only other time I'd gone against him, causing a booming explosion right behind me that threw me to the ground. I wasn't about to let him take advantage of that though, rolling quickly back to my feet with another slash that he only barely avoided.

Then, in response to that, I fell back on an old favourite of my own, Strike Raid. Nothing special about it just yet, Neku took a leaf from Rinzler's book and avoided each of the strikes with an agility that I strongly suspected the real Neku didn't have. The hapless Goofy behind him caught the effects of that attack for Neku, allowing Cloud to get in some decent attacks before Neku realized his mistake and muttered, "Cure!" at him.

The delay to cast that had cost him though, I closed in, taking ideas from the initial part of Dark Aura and the assistance Ven once gave Roxas in the Realm of Darkness. I cast Fire, tightly controlling it so it swirled around me, bringing a heavily modified Aero into play that shaped the air around me giving me less resistance. This time I caught Neku full on, not only seared by Fire but slammed into by me, then sent flying by a follow-up strike from Gilded Light. He came back to his feet with eyes flashing, then he made another familiar, curious gesture.

I knew what that meant, quickly reversing my grip and jabbing sharply backward even as I whirled to find him stumbling back from that attack. While he was busy I sent Thundaga out through the Keyblade, effectively shooting it at him rather than having it drop down from the skies. This time he got up cursing at me in a language I didn't understand, but caught the general idea of. He really wasn't happy with me now.

Now he responded, snapping something harshly in that language that sent me, along with Rinzler and Cloud, flying up in the air. In an oddly detached way, I understood what had happened – magic doesn't care what word you use to cast it, or what language you say it in. The word or words are just the emphasis that allows you to do more and expend less magic. All he'd done was cast a Zero Gravity spell in that odd language.

Somehow I managed to process all that while also watching Neku cast a second spell that slammed the three of us against each other, then leapt up to slash at all three of us, This was followed by Donald sending Blizzard magic at us from below, the combined force of Neku's attack and his magic sending us over the arena to where Goofy awaited us on top of a pillar, only to put his shield beneath him and land hard on us. Despite everything, I had to admire the cooperation that had gone into that.

"Get rid of that duck," I growled to the others when we landed. "His magic is more of a concern right now."

Rinzler was first up after that, hurling an Identity Disk each at Goofy and Donald as he ran for Donald, closely followed by Cloud who covered the distance quickly with his Sonic Blade attack. Goofy ran to try and protect Donald, but had to quickly avoid the flying Identity Disk as it turned and headed back to Rinzler.

Neku meanwhile remained focused on me. He appeared to consider the distance between us, and decided it was far enough to risk another cure spell, this time barking out, "Gyveke!" in that strange language. I recognised the effects of Curaga taking hold over the three of them.

I decided now was the time to start truly experimenting. With his spell cast, he started toward me again. I quickly mentally reviewed the details of both Stop and Slow magic, then combined the two despite not knowing the response and hurled them at Neku.

The spell was not visible except perhaps as a slight and faint distortion in the air. Neku appeared puzzled as he continued toward me, and more so when he saw I'd not made a move since casting that magic at him. He took a running leap for me, raising the Kingdom Key to strike down – and stopped. The magic had caused him to freeze in place at the height of the jump, though he was able to move, very slowly, but not away from that point – an intriguing result.

To his chagrin, this left me completely able to walk away even as I prepared my next attack, bringing my own Thunder spell into play, then combining it with Strike Raid. This time, my Keyblade sparked with lightning as it spun through the air to the frozen Neku, and every time it hit him jolts of lightning sparked out and shocked Goofy first, then jumped from him to Donald.

When the finisher of Strike Raid, Judgement, came into play, the full force of all those blows caught up with the end of my Slow/Stop magic, throwing him against one wall of the arena which was then in turn bathed in a veritable storm of thunderbolts.

I chanced a quick glance to the battle Cloud and Rinzler were fighting, only to find I needn't have worried. Donald was down and out already, never really having been one to take all that much damage, allowing them to double-team Goofy – who also wasn't doing too well.

Neku pushed himself back up yet again though clearly with some effort, muttered another healing spell that seemed too weak to extend to anyone but himself, and even then with only minimal effect, then he levelled the Kingdom Key at me, muttered something and fired a circle of short beams of light – Ragnarok. He was either getting desperate or rash though, as a simple Reflect spell protected me from all effects of it. I just watched and waited again now, I knew I could probably have finished him there and then, but I chose to wait instead.

He made the gesture for his own teleport again, though this time he appeared in front of me, then staggered slightly and stepped back to lean against a pillar. He was breathing hard, and was clearly not in a good way.

"Enough," he breathed after a few moments. "Phil! We yield." Then to me, "Damn you and your magic."

"Blame yourself," I replied with a shrug. "You're the reason I have it in the first place. Back off!" I called to the others, who hadn't heard Neku's surrender. "They've given up."

The assembled crowd did not seem happy to hear that.

"You haven't heard the last of this, Liam," Neku muttered to me while Phil headed over to revive Donald. "But only because Charlie caused this. I'll break his hold on you somehow, mark my words."

"He wishes," Charlie's voice told me. "He's too nice for his own good... and you... you are most certainly not a nice boy."

"I know," I replied urbanely, watching as the defeated trio left. "There's probably those out there who were terribly disappointed when they found out. At least until I was finished with them."

"Don't get overconfident. Neku might decide to take a hand in things again, now you've defeated him. Who knows what he might empower Zack to do?"

Zack however, had apparently been watching our fight. He held a vehement conversation with Phil which included a lot of pointing at us, though mostly me, then Phil announced that he was withdrawing due to pressing engagements elsewhere.

I might have intimidated him slightly.


	10. Out of the Pan, Into the Fire

With Zack's withdrawal, Phil announced that with no other contenders already in the listings, I would face off against Sora and Hercules. The three of us took up positions on the opposite side of the arena to where they would be, waiting for them.

"You're sure they'll be no trouble?" Cloud murmured.

"Stop doubting me," I replied, watching an intriguing conversation between Sora and Phil. "You saw how easily we swept aside Neku's team. Just do what you've been contracted in to do, and you'll be off to see Sephiroth in no time."

"Something isn't right about you."

"I get that a lot," I shrugged, not taking my eyes off the conversation. Phil appeared to be refusing very insistently, whatever it was Data-Sora was trying to achieve.

"I mean more recently," Cloud added, taking hold of my chin to make me face him. I don't like people doing that, but I'm a fairly short person so Cloud sort of towers over me. Not by as much as it sounds, but he gave that impression. "I thought so," he said. "What colour are your eyes meant to be, Liam?"

"Blue," I answered almost automatically. "They should never be any different. Except maybe a little grey or green sometimes."

"No yellow hints in places?"

I didn't answer that. The implications weren't nice to think about.

Rinzler laid a hand on my shoulder momentarily, then as my attention turned to him he pointed toward Data-Sora, "They're up to something."

Sure enough, Data-Sora was now being supported in his argument by Neku, who was leaning on Goofy for support still. Zack was on the other side of him, evidently not as intimidated as I'd originally thought, while who should be in front of him than the King.

Phil made one last attempt, animatedly laying out whatever rule applied, but it seemed that the concerted efforts of Data-Sora, Zack and Neku had won out. Whatever they were arguing over, Data-Sora had come out on top.

Now he led the way to the same place Neku had recently stood, only it was not just Hercules that followed. Zack and Mickey both joined him.

"Figured you couldn't beat us alone?" I called to him. "Isn't it against the rules to change your team once the Games begin?"

"Just like Phil says," Data-Sora replied. "Rule 11 – it's just a game, so let loose and have fun with it. Not to mention Rule 12. Unexpected doesn't mean not allowed. I just expanded the meaning of the rules slightly. Isn't that what you do?"

"Only when I need to. You should have brought more than just them. Or didn't you see what happened to Neku? You're wishing the same thing on yourselves, you know."

"Snap outta it, Lee," Mickey insisted, Star Seeker waving around to emphasize it. "You don't have to do this, and you know it!"

"Ignore him," Charlie murmured, as usual unheard by anyone else. "Remember what I said."

I thought for a few moment, then took a few steps back, beckoning to the curious looking Cloud and Rinzler.

"Hercules is going to be a pain," I told them. "So are the rest of them, but he's a tough nut. Leave him to me. That will give you two just Zack, Sora and Mickey to handle."

"Leave Zack to me," Cloud said. "I can handle him, probably Sora too."

"Like I said earlier, don't underestimate Sora. Rinzler-"

"I'll deal with the little mouse first," he interrupted, glancing over at Mickey. "You handle Sora and Hercules until we've dealt with Zack and this Mickey. Then we'll take Sora off your hands."

"Don't set yourselves in stone here," I warned. "If he's pulling out a rule like that rule 12 he quoted, I think we should be ready for anything, or at least ready to change tactics on short notice. Now, anyone got anything else to add?"

I waited for a time, then when it became clear neither of them had anything, I turned back to face our new opponents.

"Care to surrender?" I called to them. "It'll be easier on you, you know."

Data-Sora's answer came in the form of Fire sent at me, easily brushed aside. Cloud took that as his cue to go for Zack, Rinzler following suit as he quickly sent one of his two Identity Disks at Mickey, the other kept in his hand still.

Hercules placed himself between Data-Sora and me, but seemed reluctant to actually attack me as I closed in.

"You're sure about this, Sora?" he threw back over his shoulder.

"Do we really have to go into this again?" Data-Sora replied wearily. "You know what to do."

Now he nodded, drew a short sword that I'd never notice him need or use before, and set himself to deal with me – though he still remained where he stood, between me and Data-Sora. I moved to one side and he followed, I moved back, he mimicked.

"You'll have to go through me if you want to reach him," he told me.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that," I grinned, then barked out, "Teleport!"

This put me behind Data-Sora, but I realized in an instant that it had been a mistake. Neku was hard at work again, because as I'd cast the spell, Data-Sora and Hercules also exchanged places. Hercules was able to take advantage of that to pick me up bodily and throw me against the arena wall.

Data-Sora had really expanded the meaning of the rule he'd mentioned. Neku was intervening on his side, and I had no counter to that this time. I was going to have to try something different.

Instead of making the same mistake again, I scrambled back up and went after Hercules with Gilded Light swinging, making some show of over-extending myself, making it appear that I was deliberately leaving myself open.

Hercules isn't stupid though, not taking advantage of that as he skilfully deflected my Keyblade whenever it got too close, grudgingly giving up ground as necessary. Data-Sora was just behind him, apparently waiting for something. Strangely, neither Cloud or Rinzler took advantage of his focus on me.

I changed tactics then, taking my Keyblade in both hands and starting a series of attacks, overhand blows and strikes aimed for his side. Hercules countered this quite simply; he ignored it entirely and just began to glow with that divine aura he picked up. My attacks simply bounced off him.

"Give up yet?" he taunted me. "I can handle anything you can throw at me."

"Handle this," I growled, then aimed for his side again this time with a touch of darkness sent into Gilded Light directly. It shuddered slightly in my hand, being a weapon of light, but the tell-tale dark shadow following the blade spoke louder than words. I hadn't even thought about using it, I just took it and put it to work. Hercules taunting me, or more of Charlie's work?

That touch of darkness was what I needed though, it sliced through his divine aura and sent him stumbling back – not much, but enough that I was able to follow up and drive him back with more, similar attacks. With each one, the aura faded slightly until it flickered out and died. Somehow during all this, Data-Sora had managed to disappear.

Mickey and Zack, somehow still holding on, drew back from their respective battles to stop me from doing any more to Hercules. Mickey muttered a quick spell to heal the three of them, then leapt for me.

"Stop!" I snapped, fusing the Slow and Stop spells once again. Mickey stopped in mid-air just as Neku had, and not a moment too soon – Star Seeker had been very close to hitting me.

"Hey – not fair!" Zack exclaimed, coming after me too now.

I noticed Rinzler and Cloud approaching, then quickly warned them back as I planned out my next attacks. I sent Fire into the Keyblade and struck hard on Zack's sword, which glowed in his hands forcing him to drop it, then with the emphasis of, "Deep Freeze!" caused Hercules, Zack and Mickey to feel the full force of Blizzaga, empowered by providing more magic than it actually needed.

Someone shoved me from behind as soon as I'd finished casting that spell though, and I turned to find Data-Sora quickly retreating from me. In one hand he still held Zero/One, his Keyblade, but in the other...

I quickly looked to the pocket I'd kept Neku's book in, opening it to find it wasn't there.

"That's right," he told me. "_I'm_ the one holding the Book now."

"Thief!" I snarled.

"Who's to blame for that, huh?" he demanded, keeping ready to counter anything I might do.

"Get him!" I commanded Rinzler and Cloud. "Get him and get that book back in my hands!"

Data-Sora turned and bolted as they started after him, calling, "I could use some help here, Neku!"

Once again someone shoved me from behind, this time the force of it pushing me to the sandy arena floor. I spat out the sand and looked up to find Hercules running after them, his glowing aura back in place. Footsteps approaching told me either Mickey or Zack were also coming to his aid, so I waited, pretending to be temporarily stunned, then as I spotted Mickey starting to pass me I grabbed his foot and yanked hard.

"Oh, no you don't laddy," I told him flatly, repeating as Zack passed on the other side, crashing to the ground. "You're going to go through me before you get to help him."

Mickey was first to his feet just after I got up again. Just as Hercules had at the start of the fight, I made sure I remained between him and the still fleeing Data-Sora behind me. I wasn't going to let them make it any easier on him.

Then Zack got up though, and I realized there was no way I could keep them both from reaching him. I'd have to take one – or both – of them out.

I attempted to re-cast the same fused Stop spell I had before, but Mickey quickly said, "Reflect!" sending the spell back at me. Before the faint haze of it reached me though, it flashed and turned into a single feather.

"Thank you, Charlie," I muttered, then decided it was time for another experiment. I had to quickly lash out at Zack to prevent him from passing me, striking low at his legs to make him fall to the ground once again, then held off Mickey as I started to create the next magical test spell.

Slowing others was one thing, but Mickey clearly had a counter to that now. What if instead of slowing him, I stole a leaf from Luxord's book and hasted myself? All it would take was an inversion of the effects of the Slow spell – or so I reasoned.

"Speed!" I commanded when I'd finished what I thought was the resulting spell, only to have Mickey suddenly start a ferocious attack at such speed that I had to quickly cast Stop again, followed by a healing spell of my own.

"You need to review your magic again, Liam," Mickey told me. "You can't just switch around the effects and have it come off the way you want."

"What do you know of magic? You hardly ever use it!" I retorted.

"I'll show ya how much I know! Flare!" he cried, raising Star Seeker upward. Unlike most fire magic, it didn't come from his Keyblade or him. Instead, a large fireball descended from the sky instead.

I realized what Mickey had meant even as I took in the sight. I'd overlooked how Slow was targeted – at others. I needed to alter it so it would affect only me, instead of someone else. With the rest of the Haste spell already in place it didn't take me long to fix that oversight, then I silently casted it to give away no hint of what I was doing. At the last moment I dashed out of the way, giving no time for the fireball to reorientate on me as it caught Mickey and Zack instead.

Once it passed, I turned back to see the effects of what I'd done. Both of them were out of it now, protected only by the arena's innate native magic that prevented anything more permanent from happening to them.

Then for the third time in the battle, something slammed me to the ground. I came up spitting sand and curses again, finding Cloud facing me this time.

"What do you think you're doing?" I roared at him furiously.

"Changing sides," he told me calmly. "Sora told me I'd never have found Sephiroth if I'd stuck with Hades. He also told me exactly where I'd find him, in exchange for my help. Now I just have to make good on my side of the bargain before I go and meet him."

"Damn you Sora!" I snapped.

"I heard that!" I heard him call from the other side of the Arena. I chanced a glance over to find Hercules was holding off Rinzler with ease, allowing Data-Sora to write something in Neku's Book.

"Eyes front," Cloud told me. "I'm your opponent now."

"Fine then. Let's see you defeat this!"

Sonic Blade, one of Cloud's attacks, is also one I could use. I opened our own fight with that, with Cloud using his own to avoid most of my own attacks. We ended up closer together than we had been before, but I'd planned ahead, went straight into Limit form and attacked him with Ars Arcanum. The finishing strike of that sent him into one of the arena's pillars, causing it to crack and start to collapse over Cloud, who only just managed to avoid getting hit by the falling stone.

Once again I checked on the others, only to see I'd lost another ally. Rinzler was no longer the red-circuited warrior he'd been, his circuits blazing back in the blue that signified he was Tron once more. The helmet was discarded, further proving this, then he murmured something to Hercules and the two of them started for me. Data-Sora continued to write fervently in the Book.

"I could use some help here Charlie," I muttered, but he made no response and no feathers fell. Typical that when I didn't want to hear him he made himself known, and when I did, he wasn't there.

Then I realized something else. The arena's crowds had disappeared. I was alone in the arena, faced with enemies all around. Mickey and Zack, probably thanks to Data-Sora, got up again and rejoined the fight. Now I had them, Tron and Zack to worry about, not to mention whatever Data-Sora was up to.

I was outnumbered and outmatched, but Charlie's influence still kept hold on me. I couldn't win like this, but his words had forced me to keep trying all the same. I attempted to recast the Deep Freeze magic, but Mickey held up Star Seeker and called out, "Drain!" and I felt my magic slipping away from me.

Reluctantly, but faced with no other choice, I cancelled Limit form knowing that the safest way for me to use the darkness was, as always, through Anti form. I'd have to wait for a time before I could pull out another Drive form, so while I waited I settled for keeping my distance from any of them, evading Tron's Identity Disks while I tried to think of a way out of this.

Dark Aura is not meant to be used against multiple foes, this I knew from nearly every previous use of it. But if I concentrated it on each of them in turn, dealing with the greatest threat first, I could quickly and efficiently take them out. Mickey would have to be the first target of course – him and his healing magic, not to mention the spell that had let him take my reserves of magic from me.

But as I started to call on it there was a great roar from outside the arena, one I'd heard before, and one I had recently discovered Roxas would have recognised too.

The stands of the arena opposite me crashed outward, a large barrier protecting all of us from the flying debris, then coming through the destroyed remains was the great beast I'd once faced in the Lanes Between, one that had menaced Roxas time and again.

It doesn't actually have a name, at least not officially. Some call it Red Eyes, Roxas and Riku both knew it as the Hunter, but I've always known it by the name of the music track that plays when you fight it: The Hunter of the Dark.

It gave another shattering roar, and with it everything changed. The arena was replaced with Olympus Coliseum's system sector, and the hatred Charlie had forced on me was washed away, restoring my sensibility and removing his influences. Those influences and everything Charlie done with me couldn't be removed though. As they were taken from me, I caught the distinctive and familiar scent of my darkness as it is when Anti-Liam is there. I knew he was behind me, at least up until the moment he leapt up over all of us, and landed just behind the massive head of the Hunter of the Dark, wielding not a black Kingdom Key as he usually did, but a Keyblade that looked like my own Gilded Light but in darker colours.

Data-Sora had retrieved me from Charlie's clutches, but had also taken me from one fight and dumped us all straight into another, possibly worse one. At least this time we were all on the same side.


	11. Hook, Chain and Glider

At first glance the situation seemed bad, perhaps worse than it had been before save only that I was once again alongside allies as an ally rather than an enemy. But hindsight tells me things were much worse than I'd first thought.

Somehow, through all of this, the possibility that Charlie _was_ the white book I'd seen, and that his capabilities stemmed from the same source as Neku's had never occurred to me. Take that into account and recall that Neku once said that what one book does, no other book can undo – only change further – and you begin to get an idea of just how much worse.

As I mentioned previously, Charlie's influences on me were no longer on me thanks to Neku. But Neku couldn't remove them, only change them further – in this case, he changed them to apply to Anti-Liam instead of me.

This may not seem like much, but it had it's effects alright. I won't spoil my own story though; the results will become clear all too soon if you're paying attention.

But I'm off on a tangent again. Really, you must remember not to let me do that.

The Hunter it seemed had been nursing a grudge against me ever since I'd slipped through it's claws back in the Lanes Between, a grudge only made worse by it mistaking Roxas for me, who had also managed to evade it every time it had shown up. It had eyes only for me, and not in a good way.

Anti-Liam, by contrast, glared evilly at each of us in turn from his perch behind the Hunter's head – each of us except me. Perhaps because of the abrupt change of scene and situation or maybe because one of the two books was influencing things – or both for all I know – time seemed frozen in that moment.

Then the metaphorical bubble burst and there was action in abundance. Tron quickly called to Hercules, who provided cover while he sent his twinned Identity Disks flying at Anti-Liam, who batted them back with his Keyblade as if they were merely tennis balls.

At the same time Cloud and Mickey headed in toward the Hunter, their weapons held ready to strike. They never got the chance to though. As they got close, the Hunter glanced disdainfully down to them and swatted them both aside. The chains clamped around it's forelegs swung around dangerously, kept away from harming anyone else by Data-Sora and I working in unison, one of us on either side to smash them back around enhanced by a touch of magic from Mickey as he landed to allow them to defy gravity. The heavy hooks on the end resisted the magic, but it took hold long enough for them to crash into each other underneath the Hunter and tangle up.

With Mickey and Cloud tossed aside the Hunter came after me. It hadn't noticed the tangle up beneath it though, causing it to crash to the ground with a cry as the hooks dug into it's own chest. It had been almost as if we'd tied up its shoelaces.

Zack took that as his opportunity to join the fray, running in to go for the already injured belly of the beast. Cloud followed as he managed to return to the fight, while Mickey, mysteriously, had vanished.

Anti-Liam, thrown off the Hunter's back when it had been brought to the ground, intervened to stop them though. The air positively stunk of darkness as he threw spell after enhanced spell at them, each one infused with the kind of darkness that I preferred only to pull out in emergencies.

Muttering oaths under my breath, I came to their aid then. Anti-Liam could through all the darkness he wanted at me, he was essentially me and I knew more or less how he thought, I could prepare for it even as he thought of it. He shared me capability for multitasking, holding off Zack and Cloud even as he started throwing things at me. He went through the same motions I would have; Fire, Blizzard and Thunder, each one easily dealt with. The fireball was sent flying back the same way it came, Blizzard melted before it reached me, and Thunder harmlessly earthed away from me by hurling Gilded Light at him, not only taking the hit for me but absorbing it and crashing into him to deliver it too back into him. Anti-Liam came back to his feet echoing some of my own curses.

Mickey reappeared immediately afterwards, somehow easily clearing the thrashing Hunter in one leap to attack my Heartless from behind, and as Anti-Liam whirled on him he was struck in the side by Tron's Identity Disks.

Then the Hunter recovered, causing everyone else to hastily get clear before it swiped them aside again. Anti-Liam followed them, mercilessly continuing the original barrage of magic and darkness he was throwing at them. Hercules had gone with them however, and with his divine aura present he took most of that with relative ease until the darkness wore it away again, allowing them time to recover with relative safety before returning to handling my Heartless.

This of course left me alone with the Hunter. It was back on its feet, though struggling to get around with its feet tied together still. A single feather was already weaving its way down toward them though, and I had a bad feeling about what would happen if I let it reach there, hastily sending a blast of wind magic to blow it off course. Charlie, naturally, had planned for this and the feather continued through the sudden gale as if in no more than a calm breeze.

With the feather freeing the chains around its feet, it gave an angry growl and leapt for me. Without even thinking about it I reacted in an instant, lashing out with a blast of unchannelled, raw darkness that was touched only by my willing the Hunter not to reach me.

The effects were spectacular, at least if you weren't in the general vicinity. The Hunter was hurled away with an incredibly loud boom, the kind of booming you'd get if you were sharing your room with a thunderclap for example. A shower of lights like that of fireworks crackled through the air from where the force of my blast had impacted it, falling like shooting stars. Anti-Liam noticed this, making a curious gesture, then they really were shooting stars, massive blazing rocks heading for the sector's single platform on which we were all stood. As big as it was, with enough space for the Hunter to have done laps around it with plenty of space to spare, the falling storm of stars was much larger. One impacted a far edge, shaking the entire platform violently. Instead of embedding itself into the platform though, it sheared it off completely.

What he'd done was a double-edged sword however. The rocks were not selective about their aim, and they were too large to have a great enough influence over their aim anyway. Even the Hunter, recovering from my short attack, quickly scrambled aside as another fair-sized chunk of the sector was taken from us.

I seized that very moment for a surprise attack, using what little magic I'd managed to regain passively by that point to cast Haste again, modified once more so it would catch on all of us, leaving only the Hunter and my Heartless unaffected. I didn't stop to find out if it had done that once it took hold on me, the datascape blurring as I headed straight for the Hunter, which was still in the act of getting away from where the rock had almost caught it. As frequently happens with me, I hadn't planned what I was going to actually do, I simply took the first idea that came to me – an inspiration from Riku's story in Chain of Memories that there takes the form of Dark Break – an attack grounded in darkness, dealt sharply from above.

Experience from various dragons and Heartless on prior adventures caused me to aim for the thick neck just behind the spiked hood of its head, driving down in with all the force I could bring against it. The Hunter howled and writhed, almost thrashing as I drove my Keyblade in down and in. The violent movements threw me off, leaving it stuck in its neck and me without a weapon in hand, but it seemed completely unaware that I was no longer on it's back. Once again I took the opportunity, this time to disarm it.

Again having to draw on darkness as I still had little magic, and certainly not enough for what I had in mind, I chanced the unpredictable movements of the chains and massive hooks, getting as close as I dared to one of its forelegs before taking hold of as much of the chain as I could, channelling fire magic directly into it. The chain was large, like the hooks and the clamp that secured them to the leg, and it took time for it to heat up. The Hunter was still unaware of my location, but was starting to jerk around a lot less. There were still notes of pain in its tones, but it was becoming more and more coherent. It wouldn't be long before it started looking for me again.

The chains finally started to glow a cherry red under me, radiating warmth that would have seared anyone else's hands, my own protected only because it was my magic causing it. I chanced a slight delay, quickly scrambling onto the chains so I'd be able to clamp my legs around one and get a better hold on one, not to mention making it harder for the Hunter to reach me, let alone stop me, then I continued to push the magic out.

Anti-Sora was faring much better than his massive ally, but also seemed to be holding back. Without me to inconvenience him, not even the concerted efforts of all the others seemed to be able to break through his defences, both magical and physical, long enough to reach him. Every time one of them got close they'd be sent flying back by one spell or another, or he'd simply vanish and reappear somewhere else. Once I even caught him using one of my recent magical experiments, the Stop/Slow combination.

My attention was distracted be the chain suddenly moving under me as the Hunter broke into a run heading right for them. I wished my magic would work faster as the chains slowly reached into the whiter colours, very slightly starting to become more and more malleable. It wasn't enough though, I needed to distract it again.

I called my Keyblade back to me, an act which it ignored entirely but slowed the heating of the chains with only one hand present for the magic to use as an outlet. It didn't ignore my jamming it into the wound the hooks had left in its underside when it had tripped over them, giving another yelp of agony as it came to a stop. It looked down as much as it could to see me, then looked up and got clear of yet another rock – this one leaving a massive hole close to the center of the platform, and one that completely destroyed the return portal. The only way out now was to deal with these two and move on.

The sudden movement of it evading the rock had done the trick though, separating the chain and attached hook from the clamp.

"You don't even have to ask," Neku's voice murmured in my ear, though interestingly the opposite ear to the one Charlie had always chosen to murmur into. Probably coincidence though.

Neku knew what I'd been up to and what I had planned, though that was hardly surprising now I was back under his influence instead of Charlie's. I kept clear of the Hunter this time, keeping hold of the liberated chain. Neku moulded the broken end of it so I could better hold on to it, then like you would a lassoo or a spiked chain mace, I started to swing it around above me. Neku allowed it to react to that despite the massive size suggesting I shouldn't be able to do anything of the sort, causing the vast hooks on the end to whistle through the air.

The Hunter recovered, turning to look at the vast hole behind me only to get whacked in the face with the hook with a great crack that sounded more like it came from the Hunter than the impact itself. I kept the hook moving, closing in as the Hunter started to retreat, doing whatever it took to avoid getting caught again.

In doing so, it had to focus entirely on me. It took steps back again and again, withdrawing ever closer to the edges of the platform, narrowly missing several rocks that by some highly suspicious coincidence never seemed to collide at a point where they'd also hit the chain too.

Then one rock hit not on either side of it, but right on top of it. It didn't keep going and try to go through as others had done, it had only been a relatively small rock that shattered into rubble over the Hunter, quickly shaken off so it could continue to avoid me – only to find I'd let go of the chain, recalling my Keyblade to shoot a beam of light into it. The hooks started to blaze with a white fire when the beam caught up with it, then it caught the stunned Hunter full in the face.

With an anguished roar, the great beast was thrown from the platform again, only this time there was no more platform beyond for it to land on. It looked back to me almost imploringly, then fell into the possibly endless abyss of the datascape below the platform.

"The others need a hand," Neku's voice told me before I got too distracted by that victory. "Try to avoid using your darkness this time," he added in a pained tone. "Something else is acting on it – and anyway, your Heartless would feel you try something."

Since I'd been left fairly distant from them, the chances were that would be the only thing he would pick up on. The platform, or at least what was left of it, looked more like a Swiss cheese by now, with massive holes missing all over it. Anti-Liam in the distance was capitalizing on that, hounding along until they got stuck having to escape over a narrow area, allowing him to savage them while they were sitting ducks.

I came up with a relatively simple solution in short order. I simply flung Gilded Light skyward, jumped up and onto it as it returned in the form of my Glider, not even bothering with the armour, then flew at him, aiming just behind him so that all I had to do was lean over as I passed and deliver what was probably a stunning blow to his side that sent him flying after the Hunter.

The datascape around us began to shimmer as it always did for the transition to a new area, but with it I strongly suspected I hadn't seen the last of the Hunter – or my Heartless.


	12. Moment's Reprieve

It was Traverse Town. That much was instantly obvious. There were a number of differences though. The Heartless that had previously occupied it were gone, and the system access that had been here was also conspicuously missing. The doors that lead out of the Third District were barred off by large, heavy looking boxes, leaving me stuck there.

Perhaps more curiously, I was outside the house Leon commandeers, looking in. Not only could I see everyone I'd just been with – albeit without Hercules or Cloud – but I could also see Donald, Goofy, Neku, and most curious of them all, between Data-Sora and Neku... myself.

"I needed to talk with you without them around," Neku's voice told me, though the Neku inside I was looking at hadn't spoken. I was somewhat spooked to find he was also stood right beside me.

"What's going on here, Neku?" I asked. "How come I'm out here and in there? And you along with me?"

"You don't want to know," he said with a shudder. "Believe me, you really don't want to know. I just needed a moment to talk to you alone. Once you and I are done, I'll put us both in there."

"Wait... so that in there... that's happening after this?"

"No, it's happening at the same time."

"But that means-" I broke off, frowning. "So... this out here is happening now."

"Yes."

"And that in there is also happening now." Neku nodded again. "But that's also happening after this has happened?"

"In a manner of speaking," Neku replied evasively. "Just try not to think about it. I gave myself enough headaches getting it to happen right."

"Maybe I'd better drop it," I murmured. "What did you need me for?"

"I'm starting to have suspicions about what Charlie wants with you. After that first short talk we had when you arrived at Olympus Coliseum, you disappeared entirely to me. You might have had my book, but something stopped me from telling where I was, and something else was blocking me out of where you were. I only got you back again when I put you back to normal, and even that was a challenge. I couldn't simply undo what had been done to you, I had to change it further by transferring it to your Heartless – and I suspect events were manipulated so I'd have to do that."

"You think Charlie could be one of your relatives?"

Neku shook his head, "He doesn't fit any of them that I know of, and he doesn't have the right kind of temperament. In a way he's like an immature version of you; childish and uncaring. I think it's more likely he's a pawn of a book. Never mind him for a moment though, did you get a good look at your Heartless before we came here?"

"Not really, I was sorta busy with the Hunter of the Dark. Was there something different about him?"

"Let me show you," Neku replied. "Don't get excited by the way – they're just images," he added, then gestured to a spot out of sight of the window. Two identical images of Anti-Liam appeared, side by side. "This one is how he looked the first time we saw him in this datascape," he said, pointing to the left image. "And the other is how he looked just now."

"I don't see any difference, old friend. Yellow eyes, untidy hair, black clothes matching my own..."

"I can see a few differences, but I've got better sight than you have. No, I can't gift it to you, before you ask. You'd have to be one of my relatives."

"Now there's an interesting thought," I murmured.

"Never mind. Keep watching," he told me, and the two images both called their Keyblades to hand. "Now do you see?"

I saw alright. The earlier image held a Kingdom Key, completely black all the way through. This was how my Heartless had always appeared before.

But the more recent one, the one that mimicked him as he'd been in the system sector we'd just left, that held Gilded Light – a blackened version, like the black Kingdom Key, but the shape of it was unmistakable.

"How's this possible?" I breathed.

"This is why I think events have been manipulated," Neku explained. "First Mickey can't make any progress without you. Then because you needed a cover back home so no one would notice you'd gone, you left Roxas behind not really expecting any trouble here. That in turn has caused you to use the darkness here much more than you have before, and you've got a lot of darkness behind you Liam. Only a handful of people here have ever had more darkness than you do, and to be honest I'm amazed at your self-control, keeping it in check for all this time."

"Cloud told me I was starting to get flecks of yellow in my eyes," I murmured, almost afraid to say it.

"He's right, Liam," Neku said seriously. "You're starting to lose that control. And as you lose control, your Heartless becomes more dangerous. We already know he can do anything you can – now he's taken up your Keyblade, even if it is a dark copy of it. If you keep this up..."

"That's why the Heartless didn't attack me when I was last here. Why the Guard Armour wasn't hostile until I attacked. They recognised my darkness, they... were under my command..."

"And they're reacting to it just like your Heartless is. Even if you discard your Keyblade, you'll still be acting like a magnet to them. I can't prove it, but I think the trouble in each world, even though the worlds here are just different parts of the datascape, it only begins once you arrive there."

"I shouldn't have come, should I?" I asked. "But if I hadn't..."

"Don't start with the what-ifs, Liam," he told me wearily. "Just be careful. I'll leave it up to you how much you tell the others."

"Just a moment. Zack and Tron... are they..." I trailed off.

"They're from the real world, yes. But Zack just asked to be sent back to his world, and Tron and Mickey suggested right after that they take Donald and Goofy to clear up any lasting bugs and Heartless in the areas you've already been to, to prevent you from having to go back and eradicate them again."

"You're starting to make my head hurt again, Neku. If they just asked that, and I haven't gone through it yet-"

"Didn't I tell you not to think about it? Once you're done here, your next stop will be Agrabah, by the way. Don't ask me to tell you any more than that, I had enough trouble trying to get that much for you."

"There's a simple way around that, you know," I told him mildly. "With the exception of Deep Jungle, if you include this visit we're actually following my progress through the first game."

Neku stared at me for a moment then stalked off, throwing his hands in the air with a cry of, "Why me?"

* * *

><p>The next thing I knew, I was in the same room I had just been looking into, Neku on one side of me, Data-Sora on the other. Donald and Goofy were stood down one side of the table, while Zack and Tron took the other, Mickey at the far end of the table to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted myself appear outside, talking to Neku out there.<p>

"Alright," Neku began. "We needed a few safe moments to discuss a few things, so I've arranged for it. Go right ahead."

Mickey nodded, then turned to me. "Are you back with us now?"

"I'm fine now, thanks to Neku and Sora's efforts. That reminds me, would you give his book back?" I asked Data-Sora.

"I already dealt with that for you," Neku murmured.

"Because I asked you to," Data-Sora put in. "You really didn't have a good reputation back there Lee," he told me. "People were actually afraid of you turning on the crowds."

"Blame Charlie," I muttered. "But no, I'm alright now. For now. I'm having a few minor issues with my darkness, but I've got it under control."

"Liar," Charlie and Neku murmured simultaneously, one in either ear. I ignored them both this time.

"I hope you're right," Mickey said fervently. "Anyway, we gotta choice here we need to discuss. All of us except Sora aren't from here. We can either tag along with Liam and Sora to lend a hand, or we can go to the places they've already been and make sure they're clear of any lasting activity."

I said nothing. I didn't want to influence the actions that I clearly remembered Neku telling me had already happened.

"If it's all the same to you guys, I'd rather go home," Zack told Mickey. "I was pulled outta my bed in the middle of the night only to find myself in the Coliseum, and I had plans for today."

"I'll see to it," Neku said, placing a hand on his shoulder. The two vanished, then Neku came back again. "I altered his memory a little," he explained. "He'd only be confused if we tried to explain to him what a datascape is and what happened."

"You could have asked us," Mickey complained. "We mighta had something to say about it."

"Speaking of having something to say," Tron spoke up at last. "I know better than any of you what happens if you leave bugs unattended. I _am_ a security program, after all, and many bugs cause issues with security. I know datascapes from the inside out – literally. I think we'd do best keeping out of Liam's way, and handling the cleaning up."

"Unless we need a hand," Sora suggested. "We ought to have a link of some kind so we can call you if we end up in over our heads again."

"I hope not," I snorted. "What happened in Olympus Coliseum was just because someone else interfered. If you've got me on your side, we'll be fine."

"Unless you're not as in control as you say you are," Mickey said. Neku gave me a meaningful look.

"I'll be fine," I brushed it aside. "I'm aware of the issue, and I'll deal with it. Stop worrying."

Mickey sighed, shaking his head. To his credit though, he did not go 'Why me?'

"I'm gonna go out of the datascape for a bit," he told us instead. "There's someone I've gotta talk to, and I'll have Chip and Dale stick around to keep an eye on things with Jiminy. They'll know how to reach me if anything comes up while I'm gone."

"Who are you looking for?" Donald asked curiously.

"I'd rather not say. I gotta feeling someone unfriendly is listening in."

"Spoilsport," Charlie murmured.

"If that's all then," Neku announced. "I think it's time we all moved on. I'll take you out of the datascape myself your Majesty, so I know you make it safely.

"Now that's really being a spoilsport," Charlie told me as the world started to fade out again, taking us to Agrabah. I privately hoped that the original mistake I'd made there and the following consequences wouldn't carry over to this data-version of it, but there was no way to tell – yet.


	13. Bugs, Lamps and Theives

Agrabah look relatively normal – that is, normal if you imagined that instead of sandstone, it had been built out of the bug blocks. Everything else was unchanged, market vendors still hawked their wares, locals still went about their business, but all the architecture was constructed from bug blocks. Where the perfect squares of the blocks couldn't match arches, or just couldn't imitate the area, the real sandstone appeared instead, though heavily pixellated, like a badly loaded image.

"Don't lie to me this time," Data-Sora said as we started through the sandy streets. "You're not entirely in control, are you?" I said nothing, so he went on, "You can't hide it from me. I'm you, just using Sora's name because that's what you did."

"I'm dealing with it," I answered shortly. "We need to find Jasmine. Most likely she's being menaced by Jafar. We're probably meant to find Aladdin first, but since we already know what's going on, I'm just going to skip that."

"You know, it's a good thing Neku stored the original journal data in my code, otherwise I'd have no idea what you were talking about."

"Riku's meant to bear that data," I said absently. "When did Neku give it to you?"

"Before I was encoded," he shrugged. "Since the Journal wasn't data at the time, he didn't have a problem. He just has trouble when it comes to programming, data and the like."

We rounded into an alleyway, though in Agrabah these places often look the same as the main streets but less populated, then Data-Sora suddenly asked, "Are you sure you're going to be able to handle this?"

"I already told you-" I started, then broke off as something shot past between us close to the ground, then the end of an angry cry followed, "... monkey!"

We shared a momentary look, then the short figure of the peddler ran between us and down the alley, shaking his fist angrily. There was some heavy thumping, which we quickly got out the way of we realised it belonged to none other than Pete rounding the same corner, following the whatever-it-was with a cry of, "Outta the way, outta the way! Coming through!"

To further confuse the issue, someone in that typical black coat of the Organization rounded the corner, weaved between us, and darted after Pete.

"Hey, come back here!" Aladdin's voice called.

"Too bad, sucker!" Iago chortled, flying into view just out of reach. "The lamp is as good as ours now!"

"Abu!" Aladdin complained. "Why did you have to run off just then... oh, hi Liam," he added, passing by me in a hurry to head up the rear of the chain of pursuit.

There was a quiet moment after he passed by.

"Wait, what?" I said, doing a double take. "He recognised me?"

"Apparently so," Data-Sora murmured. "Who was the guy in the black coat?"

"I don't know, but he has to be someone from outside the datascape. That coat has always meant the Organization before, and if not them, trouble. Except when Riku wore it."

"After them?" he suggested.

"Get away from me you-" Jasmine's unmistakable voice was cut off, but had definitely come from the alleyway opposite the one everyone else had gone down.

"I'll go," I told Data-Sora. "You help Jasmine. Don't let Jafar get his hands on her."

I didn't give him a chance to argue, heading down the alley to join the long pursuit of what I was sure now was Abu. As the alley was thankfully one single route with no side paths, another brief Haste spell allowed me to catch sight of them in no time, catching up with Aladdin easily.

"Want to explain what's going on here?" I asked.

"Abu stole a lamp from a market peddler while that big bully was arguing with the guy in the coat. Iago is probably just trying to steal it from Abu for Jafar, I'm guessing."

"It wouldn't surprise me. How did you know me?"

"Are you kidding me? How could I _not_ know you! You and Sora came by here and... that's odd. I don't remember anything else. I'm sure you came here with him though."

"He's picking up on the real Aladdin's memories," Neku's voice told me. "Your heart touched on his, and now because of your friendship with the real Aladdin he's getting fragments of real memories. Worse yet, it's bugging up the Journal further – we might have to do a second run through this area."

"Oh, joy," I breathed, then caught sight of the mysterious figure in the black coat and shouted ahead, "Hey, you!" The hooded figure turned briefly to look, then ignored me and carried on, shoving Pete to the ground.

"Oi!" Pete yelled after him. "No one does that to Pete, hear!"

"Yeah, we hear you, you clumsy oaf," I muttered as we passed.

"Why you!" I heard Pete cry. I'd underestimated his hearing.

We left the long alleyway and broke back out into the main streets, then from there out into a market area. Patrons and vendors alike got out of the way of the chase, those who weren't paying attention hauled hurriedly out the way by those who were. Behind us there were sounds of outrage and crashing, no doubt caused by Pete being his usual clumsy self. I quietly sent a brief and very small Gravity spell to one of his feet, causing him to plant his face into the sandy street. Who says magic isn't fun?

"We're never gonna catch them like this," Aladdin muttered. "Iago can just fly over anything, Abu's more agile than all of us put together, and that peddler is amazingly quick. Not to mention the guy in the coat – he must be sweltering under all that. Black in a desert isn't a good choice."

"Now's probably not the time to become a fashion critic, Aladdin," I chided him. "Let's see if I can't slow them down a bit though. I still have a few tricks I haven't had the chance to use yet."

The part I didn't voice was that I had no idea which one would be most effective, certainly not here in the city itself. Abu neatly solved that one for us by heading for one of the imposing gates set in the outer walls, showing an oasis just outside where caravans were watering their camels.

I snatched up two short pieces of wood from a caravan on it's way into the market after having a sudden inspiration caused by them, tossing one to Aladdin. He had the sense not to question what I was doing, which is more than I can say for some others I've gone adventuring with.

In my free hand I took up my Keyblade yet again, routing fire magic into it and out through the frequently used, and sometimes abused, beams of light. With the magic also applied it sent out a searing beam of fire.

"Fire, in a desert?" Aladdin asked sceptically. "You do know what you're doing, don't you?"

"Trust me," I grunted, concentrating as I tried to keep a more or less steady aim. I wasn't aiming for the peddler, Iago or even the mysterious figure, more for the sand ahead of us leading up to them. I did catch the coat of that last, who gave a startled outcry that gave no hint to who they were, then chose to vanish into a corridor rather than keep up the pursuit.

Aladdin fell back a ways then came up on the other side of me, taking the other piece of wood off me. "Now try," he said. "You might have better aim with two hands."

He's smarter than he looks.

With two hands I found my range and aim much easier, increasing how much magic I was sending out to widen the beam of fire considerably. All but Iago and Abu had to move again or get caught by the new radius as the fire began to head up and melt the sand into glass.

"Now, quickly," I told Aladdin, dismissing my Keyblade and holding a hand out for the plank again. He handed it back as I replaced the fire magic with ice, rapidly cooling the glassy sand before us. It cracked in many places, cooling with many 'plink' sounds, but it provided what I was after: a surface I could put the plank on and use as a kind of snowboard, but on the glass. Not perfect, and I had to keep putting out more magic to keep the ice ahead cooled enough, but it got us moving far quicker.

"So long!" Aladdin said amicably to the peddler, who looked understandably furious as we slid past him. Iago noticed our gaining on him and dived down toward Abu, who was clearly starting to tire. We had come a fair way by now, after all. Iago's ability to simply fly over most obstacles had left him with plenty of energy though, and he snatched the lamp off Abu easily.

"So long!" Iago cackled, mimicking Aladdin.

"I'll give you so long," I muttered irritably. "Lightning!"

The effect of that was actually surprising. You'd think it wouldn't be too different from a Thunder spell, right? Not the case. The sky above had been clear, blue and cloudless, but with that spell snapped out a single inky black cloud began to form rapidly in the air with ominous rumbling sounds.

"That's all you've got?" Iago laughed. "Jafar could do better than that!"

I almost agreed with him, but my answer was drowned out by an impressively loud boom from the cloud, then a massive thunderbolt jolted down from it. Iago gave a startled cry in the tiny moment before it hit him, the lamp thrown from his grasp.

"Get that lamp!" Aladdin called over the sound of the still grumbling cloud. As if in response to that, the figure in the coat reappeared out of a new corridor, catching it out of the air then holding out a hand to open another corridor.

"Stop him!" the peddler cried.

Ironically, it was Pete that answered that summons, flying in on Aladdin's magic carpet to steal the lamp from the figure's hand just before he entered the corridor. Pete gave a triumphant laugh, then the cloud struck again, the lamp once again going flying.

Aladdin scooped up Abu then leapt up onto the carpet, shoving Pete off it so he could take control and turn around after the lamp. We all rounded on it, though Aladdin had to continually evade the repeated assaults of the cloud before I finally figured out a counterspell to it, since it didn't show any signs of dissipating on it's own, but we all missed out chance to get hold of it.

The lamp landed, then out of thin air Jafar appeared, plucking it out of the sand.

"You fools have bumbled the lamp right into my hands," he said. "You couldn't have done me any greater service. Just think how your dear Jasmine will feel when she finds out you helped me," he added, seeing Aladdin swoop in. Jafar levelled his staff at the carpet, a brief burst of his own magic flinging them into a sand dune, then he turned his attention to the peddler.

"That's my merchandise you have there!" he told the grand vizier – a job that in the description you'll always find such things as 'Must have ambitions to overthrow the palace' or 'Evil laugh required'.

"Is that so?" Jafar asked. "Then you should be rewarded for having exactly what I require." The staff was levelled again, and the peddler vanished entirely. "The little fool should have no issues with my ownership of the lamp now. Unless his morality gets in the way, wouldn't you agree Liam?"

"Give me the lamp, Jafar."

"No, I don't think so. If there's any giving to be done around here, it'll be you doing it. You're going to work for me, I think."

My answer is, at best, unrepeatable. Iago was shocked enough by some of it that he actually fell out of the air, and Aladdin looked no less shocked at my choice of words. I went on for some time, during which I may have made some passing remarks about Jafar's questionable ancestors and probably, if unlikely, descendants, among others about any other relatives he might have had.

Jafar let me go on for a while, taking advantage of a pause I took to breath to ask, "Is that all?" Iago feigned fainting when he heard the renewed remarks I made.

Most irritatingly of all, he just stood there with his staff in one hand, the lamp in the other, and that oily smirk on his face as he listened to everything I had to say without a single change in expression.

When I finally ran out of unsavoury remarks, he waited in case there was any more before he responded. "I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding me when you change your mind, dear boy," he told me, then disappeared again.


	14. Going Potty

Aladdin was wary of me after my outburst, but with Jafar's disappearance the cause of my irritability was also gone, and in those cases I seldom stay irritated for long. He pulled me up onto the carpet, not being concerned with Iago as he was still on Jafar's side for now, and we headed back to Agrabah itself.

From our aerial approach, we had a perfect view of the city. The commotion caused by Pete in the marketplace was clearly visible, though showed signs of starting to clear up, workmen repairing damaged stalls and market guards busily doing whatever it is they do in those cases.

Also visible were the gardens just inside the imposing gates to the Palace. Behind those closed doors was Data-Sora, busily trying to evade two more familiar figures: The Blizzard Lord and the Volcanic Lord Heartless. He didn't seem to have figured out how to handle them, only figuring out that he was able to do marginally more damage to them if he used the spell matching the other one's element, and casting that left him open to attack. Without anyone else around he had no means of distracting them.

I signalled Aladdin to direct us down toward them, sending Magnega on ahead to draw the two Heartless together. The duo struggled to reach Data-Sora, who looked puzzled until we flew out from behind them and into view as the Heartless were pulled together, making them explode out into many tiny versions of each other.

Data-Sora started to clear them up as we disembarked the carpet, which wandered off to safety when we joined in. A few bursts of magic from me and some short attacks dealt with the lot before they managed to merge again.

"Didn't I ask you to keep Jasmine safe?" I asked him.

"Easier said than done. Jafar-" he broke off then shouted, "Duck!"

"Quack, quack," I muttered, throwing myself to the ground, a blast of something very hot shooting through the air where I had been. "What was that?"

Aladdin peeked up over the raised flowerbed we'd taken cover behind, then ducked down again as another blast shot at him.

"Jafar's staff," he answered.

"Jafar's attacking us?"

"No, his staff is," Data-Sora corrected.

"I think you'd better tell me what's been going on here, Sora."

"I managed to save Jasmine from Jafar, who asked me to walk her to the Palace. Only when we got here, Jafar showed up with the lamp in his hand. His first wish stole her from me, and his second empowered his staff with the ability to defend itself and keep us busy. It summoned those two Heartless then disappeared and left me to it."

"We're trapped here, you know," Aladdin put in. "If we get up, it'll attack us."

"Maybe," I said. "But it has three targets now, and this garden has a lot of flowerbeds like this one. You go one way Aladdin, and Sora the other. Take it in turns to go around the garden, keep it focused on you. Leave the rest to me. I'll give it a distraction so you two can make your first dash. Ready?"

"You do know what you're going to do to it, don't you?" Data-Sora asked sceptically.

"Trust me," I said easily. "I have a plan. Or at least, I will in a few moments."

"I knew it," Data-Sora groaned. "Making it up as you go along again."

"Whatever works," I shrugged. "Now, ready?"

The two of them set themselves just out of sight, while I peeked out through the flowers. The staff was in the center of the courtyard, the cobra head topping it watching the patch we were hiding behind.

I stood up then, and called to it, "Hey, snake-eyes – looking for someone?" The staff glowed, the snake's eyes going blue as it focused the magic it had been given. "Move," I muttered, nudging the two of them. The staff fired, I ducked, and they bolted for the next beds around. The sound of the magic blast went overhead, a blue beam that blackened the sandstone wall behind. When it passed, I got up again and taunted, "Missed me!" distracting it a second time to ensure Data-Sora and Aladdin had the chance to get in position.

They were able to take it from there, darting back and forth, sometimes twice forward then one back, varying which way and how far. The staff continued to blast away at them, never quite seeming to catch on to their subterfuge.

I meanwhile took out Neku's book and started to write.

'I've got a plan forming,' I told him. 'But I'm not sure if it will work.'

'Explain it and I'll tell you,' Neku replied.

'Data Aladdin here is picking up on some of the real Aladdin's memories through me, right? And the data Jafar is doing the same, otherwise he wouldn't recognise me. Wouldn't that mean the Genie would see data Jafar and the real Jafar as the same person?'

'I think so, why?'

"That the best aim you've got?" I heard Data-Sora taunt the staff, which responded by bathing the entire courtyard in a barrage of attacks, blasting several of the flowerbeds apart. I hastily moved to one of the remaining ones, then answered him.

'If I remember the real Genie, and Data-Sora uses the original journal data you gave him too, wouldn't the data Genie know that? And if he knew that, wouldn't he then realize that Jafar has had five wishes because of his data version here?'

'I get it. That would mean the Genie would be well within rights to revoke those two wishes, which would rebound on Jafar and destroy him. Or at least, it will if I have anything to say about it,' he added, giving me the impression of a nasty grin.

'Go ahead and make the preparations,' I told him. 'I'll let Sora know what we're up to.'

'No need, I can handle it without him having to do anything. You realize though, this is going to seriously bug up the data for this section a great deal more. The system access portal is already heavily corrupted; we're going to have to do a second run through this area to properly debug it.'

"Whatever works," I murmured, stowing his book away again, then standing up again. The staff was facing away from me until I called, "Look out behind you, you old stick!" The staff turned to face me, glowed as it had the first time, then the glow stuttered and failed. "What's wrong? Out of magic?"

The staff fell to the ground, clattered once then was picked up by an unseen hand. Data-Sora and Aladdin got up to find out was happening, watching in surprise as Jafar appeared.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "How dare you force my appearance!"

"Allow me to explain, not-so-grand vizier!" Genie's voice exclaimed as he burst out of the lamp.

"Genie! My final wish! Make me an all-"

"Oh, no – none of that! You got three wishes only, and you've used them already. Getting more, now that's just greedy. And you know what happens to greedy people who steal more wishes?"

"What? Preposterous! I've only asked you for two wishes, how dare you disobey!"

"Wrong again, Jafar," I told him. "You asked for wishes when I first went to Agrabah. You don't remember it, but you still asked for them."

"That's absurd! Who would believe someone as soaked in darkness as you?"

"I do," Aladdin said. "And so does Sora! Go on, Genie – show him what happens to people like him!"

Genie did just that, sending a wave of blue back at Jafar that completely obscured him from view, whipping up a gale around that threatened to uproot some of the smaller plants. All that was left afterwards was the lamp, rattling to the ground afterwards.

"Go on, Al," Genie said then. "It's yours for the taking again. Unless either of you want to take it."

"Thanks for the offer Genie, but Sora and I ought to be going. There's some bugs that need squashing, and we can't let them run amok for too long."

* * *

><p>The reset Agrabah was deserted unlike the original pass, and the buildings were not made from bug blocks any longer. They were still pixellated, but at least they were constructed of the right materials this time. It was also dusk now, which replaced the normal desert heat with a light chill.<p>

"What are we doing back here?" Data-Sora asked. "We dealt with Jafar, shouldn't we be going to the next world?"

"We didn't go to a system sector," I replied. "And where Aladdin, Genie and Jafar all caught memories from their real counterparts, the journal got bugged up a great deal. Neku warned me we'd have to take a second trip through, we just need to find the source of the bugs in this sector."

"I can solve that for ya," Mickey's voice called to me. "You're in luck – I just got back. The readings are off the scale in the area just outside the Palace gates. Be careful, Lee – there's other readings there too."

"What other readings?"

"Darkness, and lots of it. It's completely off the scale."

"Should I go in?" a faint voice asked. It was familiar, but it was too faint to identify.

"Not yet, I need you out here for now," Mickey told the voice. "Just keep an eye on things like I asked you to. And you be careful in there, Liam."

"Like I need telling," I muttered. "You heard him too?"

"Of course," Data-Sora replied. "Watch your darkness."

"Stop reminding me," I told him irritably.

The area was just as deserted as the rest of Agrabah, with very little visible by the low light of the stars and moon above. It illuminated a single figure in the center of the area, wearing all white. The blonde hair seemed oddly bright given the low light.

I took in a sharp breath. "Charlie."

"So that's this mysterious Charlie I was told about," the faint voice murmured.

Charlie turned around, but it wasn't Charlie that looked at us. The face was black, yellow eyes staring out at us. The hands were withdrawn from their pockets to reveal similarly black hands, the darkened version of Gilded Light appearing.

"Not Charlie," Data-Sora said. "Your Heartless."

"I can see that, but why was he impersonating Charlie?"

"Because I felt like it." The words had come out as a steely hiss. "And because I can."

"So you've grown to the point you can talk. Don't you have anything interesting to say?"

"You can't beat me," Anti-Liam hissed. "I _am_ you. Sooner or later you'll have to use the darkness, and that only empowers me more. I can squish you like a bug."

"I think you're overlooking something, old boy," I replied, oddly calm. "You need me to have darkness so you exist. Destroy me, and you also cease to exist. Seems a bit counterproductive to engineer your own end, wouldn't you say?"

"You don't understand as much about the darkness as I thought you did," Anti-Liam laughed. "I knew you were limited, but I didn't realize your morals got in the way of understanding too. If I destroy you, all your darkness becomes mine. I'll have more than enough to preserve myself then."

"You have to live long enough first."

"You can't destroy me, Liam. You said it yourself. I need your darkness. As long as you have it, I exist." He glanced to his Keyblade, then dismissed it again. "Enough of this. I think it's time to show you what the darkness can really do."

He held out both hands to his sides, darkness curling around them. He looked oddly like Axel when he calls his chakrams actually. From one hand the darkness cascaded out of his hand as if it was water, spreading over the dusty ground. The other hand arced upward, blacking out the night-time sky.

Then Anti-Liam vanished, leaving his darkness to continue it's work. The darkness now on the ground started to congeal and rise up again, as the part in the air vanished out of sight to restore the low light, revealing what had been emerging from the darkness.

The Pot Centipede rose up and shook itself like a dog drying itself, then the five pots that formed it's body bucked upwards and sent their lids flying. As it did so, the other darkness returned dragging a mass of bug blocks behind it, splitting into five separate streams that flowed into the pots.

"Not good," Data-Sora murmured as we backed away, observing the results. As the bugs flowed into it carried by the darkness, the Pot Centipede grew rapidly in size until filled the area and then even more as it shattered the various surrounding walls.

I stared at it for a few moments, words completely failing me as the gargantuan Heartless gave a hissing, rattling cry at us, then muttered the only two words I could manage.

"Oh bugger."


	15. Responses

Between Charlie and my ever-growing Heartless, the 'short trip' I had originally thought this would be was starting to look a lot longer – or at least considerably harder than I'd envisioned. I was already seeing the point everyone had made about leaving Roxas behind, but now I wondered if it hadn't been a bad idea not to at least discuss it with him before disappearing.

For now though, I concentrated on not getting caught by the Pot Centipede while also trying to find some way to harm it, for the massive size it had grown to kept a great deal of it out of reach, its thin legs moving so erratically they made it impossible to even think of scaling them.

It scuttled around destroying yet more of this data Agrabah, turning quicker than its pottery body suggested to orient on us again. We tried splitting up but like most opponents lately, it recognised that I was the greater threat and ignored Data-Sora. It was all I could do to avoid getting trampled by it, let alone get caught by the massive mandibles that it used as scoops, shoving rubble and sand along in front of it in the hopes of catching me.

Data-Sora may have been ignored but he had little more luck than I did. I caught glimpses of him while I was trying to figure out how to deal with this beast, watching him as he used the remains of Agrabah to try and reach some part of the Pot Centipede. Once he actually managed to get up on its head, but even I noticed his attacks simply bounce harmlessly off with a cascade of sparks.

"What you gonna do now, Liam?" Charlie murmured. "You can't harm it, and you can't stop it."

"I'm going to come up with a plan," I replied, using the rubble it was scooping toward me as a means of scrambling up to join Data-Sora, though it countered that by simply opening its great maw. I quickly changed my mind and headed back down instead, narrowly avoiding getting kicked by one of the legs.

"You could command it, you know."

"I know," I answered. "I'm working on the plan though."

I used Teleport once to get up on top of the Pot Centipede, which seemed to leave it puzzled and unaware of my new location. I'd aimed for the head, but failed to account for its movements, leaving me stood on one of the pots.

The lid was completely immovable. I didn't even think to try; it was far bigger than I was. I briefly entertained the thought of using some magic, but decided to save that for later – if I needed it. Instead, I scrambled over it to reach its head, while Data-Sora below, now the only target it could see, was busily keeping himself in one piece.

The original roles had become reversed, but the fortunes had not changed. My own Keyblade was no more effective than Sora's had been, and my magic only served to irritate it and give away what had happened to me. One sharp movement and I was thrown off.

"I think we're in trouble this time," Data-Sora told me as he pulled me out of the rubble and away from the latest charge by the Pot Centipede.

"Oh, stop that. I'm not out of ideas yet. Neku, does Sora have write access to the main datascape?"

There was a short wait, then Neku finally answered, "If you mean what I think, no – and don't ask me to try and change that. You'll need to contact Mickey for that one."

"Did you think Mickey left me out here for no reason at all?" the voice I'd heard said. This time clear enough I recognise who he was.

"Riku? You're the one he went to get?"

"Don't sound too surprised to hear me, I might think you're losing interest," he teased, then went on, "I can handle what you need from here. Mickey made sure I'd know how to work this thing on the way here."

"Right. All I need for the moment is write access."

"What do you want me to copy over?" Data-Sora asked curiously.

"Firstly, Aladdin's magic carpet. This thing doesn't have any way of attacking us from a distance – unless the bugs or my Heartless have seen to that – but even then it'll give us a better chance of getting out of trouble."

"I think I've done it," Riku announced. "Go ahead and test it out."

I left Data-Sora to concentrate, distracting the Pot Centipede so it wouldn't catch on to what we were up to. Despite knowing it would be completely ineffective, I felt I had to try something all the same. My Keyblade alone wasn't going to do anything, leaving the only options darkness and more magical experiments – and this time, there was no already existing magic I could alter to do what I needed. Fragments from other spells, but only small ones. This one would be almost completely original.

The first attempt to achieve the ends I wanted was a complete failure. The magic did work to a degree – all the rubble that the Heartless was shoving toward me was suddenly met with massive resistance that eventually overpowered the force it was putting into pushing it, flinging the lot into its face. It pawed inadequately at the sand getting in its eyes and spat out various rocks I'd fed it, but there appeared to be no actual damage done.

Data-Sora was still busy, completely oblivious to the world around him, so I decided there was time to give the magic a second attempt. As I'd done before with other magic, I wanted it to surround me, and I wanted it to surge, to have a higher powered field right in front of me – using it like a battering ram essentially. Anyone who's seen baked pottery fall from height knows what happens to it when it hits the ground hard, and it was that kind of effect I wanted.

I took extra pains to try and make this one work, doing what I could to get a clear aim for one of the pots before I finally cast the magic in action. There was no apparent effect at first, no sign of anything happening except for the drain on my magic. I had no idea how long it would last, let alone working, so weaved through the ruins, heaps of rubble and trenches it had carved, forcing it into a position where one of the pots was ahead of me, at the last moment leaping up toward the nearest pot for full effect.

It took a few moments for the outer edge of the magic to collide with the pot, but when it did there was no doubt it had worked. With a great crash the pot grew a spider's web of cracks that caused it to collapse in on itself, showering me with massive fragments of pottery. The legs had been attached to a round ball of black inside, but it lost cohesion with the loss of the pot around it and split into a rain of other Heartless, not many kinds but many of two distinct kinds. Armoured Knights I had previously only battled in the canyons of Hollow Bastion, but the accompanying Strafer Heartless had only been seen in Space Paranoids, the world inside the computer of Ansem the Wise.

While the Armoured Knights descended with swords in hands, the Strafers hovered in swarms above, waiting for the last of the carnage to clear. I'd been more or less sheltered by the worst of the falling pottery by a particularly large shard that had landed over me. It blocked my view of the Pot Centipede, so I had no idea what had befallen it.

This left me to battle my way out from my cover through the Armoured Knights, doing what I could to avoid the rain of thunder the Strafers called down on me. They were far less numerous than the Armoured Knights, but being able to keep out of reach kept them safe from my Keyblade, and having their companions swamp me kept my focus off them to keep them safe from magic.

They were destroyed anyway as Data-Sora swooped in on the carpet, smashing each one down with the flat of his own Keyblade. If it didn't destroy them, the impact on the ground did. Once he'd taken care of them he turned and headed back, offering a hand down to catch me and pull me up and away from the remaining Heartless, which I sent a series of spells after to deal with.

The Pot Centipede meanwhile showed few signs of what I'd done. It seemed like I'd destroyed the middle of the five pots, as the two that were now in the middle now showed their own small network of cracks where they connected, mute evidence that the two had been smashed together when the Pot Centipede pulled itself back together.

It then proved my previous statement completely wrong, giving a rattling hiss as it discovered us in the air, then somehow managing to sharply shove the pots upward. The lids flew up into the air, a cloud of inky darkness flowing out of them that was capped only when the lids clattered back on again.

"That cloud is tracking you, Liam," Riku warned.

"Don't remind me," I muttered. "Make yourself useful out there and see what you can do to force it into a more manageable form, will you?"

"Asking a lot, aren't you?"

"How should I know, I'm busy not trying to get beat up here!" I retorted, trying the only thing I could think of under pressure, sending light out through the Keyblade yet again.

Oddly, it didn't respond this time. Not even a glimmer of light around it. It did, on the other hand, feel as if it was burning my hand, then as I gave a startled curse it dismissed itself and refused to come back.

Data-Sora tapped my shoulder with his own Keyblade, having reversed his grip on it to hold the key part. "Use mine," he told me. "I'm concentrating on flying this thing."

"Wait Liam, don't-" Riku began, but broke off as I took it and vented another venomous oath as it too burned my hand and vanished, reappearing back in Data-Sora's. "Take it," Riku sighed. "Your Keyblade is too far aligned with the light, Liam. The sheer amount of darkness in the area is too much for it to handle."

"And you know this how?"

"Because that's what Mickey's computer is telling me, just don't ask me how in the hell it knows that! Can you still reach Neku?"

"Of course he can," Neku answered for me. "Just concentrate on helping will you? I'm having enough trouble achieving anything on my own as it is."

"That's what I'm trying to do! No one can summon a Keyblade to them that doesn't belong to them – what happened back at Hollow Bastion between Liam and me excepted. I need you to change the rules so he can take up mine – it can handle the darkness."

"And what if you need it?" I asked, letting loose a blast of uncontrolled magic at the cloud of darkness, causing all kinds of peculiar effects along the way. Sparks of it leapt off along the way, causing a pile of rubble to erupt in a flock of squawking ravens, the remains of a tower to melt into an orange gunk that filled the air with the scent of oranges, turned one of the pots of the nearby Heartless a floral pink, and dropped a large piano into the cloud itself, which promptly ripped it apart.

"You arranged for me to know every spell you knew," Riku reminded me. "I don't use it much, but I keep in practice. Though with magic like that..." He seemed to be amused by the myriad results I'd just had.

"Oh shut up and lend me your Keyblade already," I snapped throwing another blast of magic at the cloud, this time Aeroga with an inadvertently added touch of darkness. The cloud didn't withstand that so well, breaking up into many smaller ones that burst into another collection of Heartless, one I'd only seen in one place before – the Bit Snipers that had accompanied the World of Chaos.

"Best I could do with what you were doing," Neku apologised. "I've definitely got active opposition now though. Oh, and you should be able to borrow his Keyblade now," he added.

Way to the Dawn responded where my own Keyblade had not, and appeared to be indifferent to either my own darkness or the latent darkness flying around. There was no reaction to it where the other two had, though it still refused to use the same light beam that had got me into the predicament.

"Aim us for those Heartless," I told Data-Sora darkly. He took one look at my expression and swiftly changed our course without a word, heading us right for the mass of Bit Snipers. The air was filled first with them, then with Way to the Dawn as I carved through them, leaving a trail of more complaints and curses behind us. Data-Sora put up some magic to protect himself while he continued to fly us around, leaving me to deal with the rapidly diminishing Bit Snipers.

When they were all but gone, I directed his attention to the watching Pot Centipede and had him do what he could to manoeuvre it into a similar position to the one I had earlier. This time when I used the magic battering ram on it, we were able to evade both the pottery and the shower of Heartless, and a repeat of the Lightning spell I'd used in the previous run through Agrabah rapidly decimated all but the new collection of Strafers, easily dealt with by Keyblades alone.

With the first collision another pot was destroyed and the Pot Centipede paused to allow the severed rear to catch up and reattach itself, giving us the chance to reorient and head in for a second blow. This time it had no time to stop moving, the remaining two pots smashing each other apart to leave only the last two pieces of the Pot Centipede, neither of which were pots.

Without the pots it was left vulnerable to conventional attacks, so more as a means to vent what was left of my temper I left Data-Sora on the carpet to finish it off the old-fashioned way.

"Nicely handled... this time," Charlie complimented me. "But I wonder if you can keep it up? You face more enemies than you think you do."


	16. Hope and Fear

Thanks to the aid of Riku and Data-Sora working together to replace the destroyed Agrabah with an undamaged and mostly bug-free version, we were back on track once again in short order. The city remained oddly deserted, now even by Heartless, but Riku assured us there was still something that had to happen here.

We knew what it was – the local system sector. I wasn't looking forward to it, not after having had to deal with Jafar and the Pot Centipede. Another tough battle was not a welcome option, but if this sector held true to each of the others.

The sector access was hidden in a niche in the wall just below the peddler's store, which was already laden with gold. The remnant of Jafar's payment for the lamp he'd stolen most likely, something we briefly paused to contact Tron and Mickey about. As it hadn't been there originally, it was something they'd have to remove from this part of the datascape when they passed through.

Anti-Liam, flanked on either side by a pair of Orcus Heartless, awaited us in the system sector, like the previous one a single platform.

"So you survived again." He said it almost as an accusation.

"As Zexion once said, surely you must have known this was going to happen?" I replied. "I'm as much you as you are me. You should know as well as I do, if you can handle something you raise against me, so can I. If you're going to get the drop on me, you'll have to up your game."

"I don't need to. Every time you come up with something new, I get to pick it up without having to go through all that tedious trial and error. In the end, you'll only have made it worse for yourself."

"Cannon fodder," Data-Sora murmured. I gave him a puzzled look so he explained, "That's all these Heartless are to him. It doesn't matter how hard or how easy they are for us to handle, it's how you handle them. You come up with new tricks, he gets them too. I'm guessing when he feels he's ready for it, he'll challenge you and turn them all on you."

"And you can't even come up with counter-measures, because I'll know them as well," Anti-Liam added. "You know something? The little program makes a better you than you do. He caught on to that long before you would have."

"I've got other things on my mind," I shrugged. "You can't expect me to do everything."

"And when you're so distracted, you make an easy target. Let's see just how unsettled we can make you, Liam. We'll find out how many things you have to have to think about before you start _really_ making mistakes."

"You'll have to handle me as well," Data-Sora asserted. "I might be just a program, a data copy of him, but with me at his side he'll withstand so much more."

"Oh, don't doubt for a moment we haven't thought of you in our plans, little program," Anti-Liam smiled at him. "We have _big_ plans for you. But later," he said, turning his attention back to me. "I was going to test you here, but we both know that wouldn't achieve anything. The system sector will send you on to your next destination when we leave."

"Wait just one moment. Just who is Charlie?"

Anti-Liam just laughed at me, shaking his head as a dark corridor enveloped him and the two Heartless.

* * *

><p>The next place we should have visited varies – by the original story we should have been following it cuts straight to Hollow Bastion at this point, and by my original reasoning, following my path through the first game, Monstro should have come next.<p>

We did not arrive at either, however. We were left on a night-time beach, looking out over a darkened sea. For a moment I thought this was Destiny Islands, or perhaps even the Dark Margin, but there were signs that proved otherwise. The other islands that make up the Destiny Islands were not visible as they should have been, and the strange structures and rocks of the Dark Margin were nowhere to be seen.

Another dead giveaway was the play of lights on the water, coming from behind us. Data-Sora looked on with faint bemusement, not recognising where we were, but I after a few moments to take in the waterfront behind the beach I knew exactly where we were.

We were home. The main beach near where I live, the many hotels and stores lining the front of the esplanade. Lights in abundance, there always are late at night, but not a soul around. Also not unusual by itself; depending on the hour the seafront can be almost unnervingly silent.

Not so in town itself though. Away from the waterfront, the rows of pedestrianized streets and their collection of stores, though closed at night still had among them late-night food joints and night clubs, the same kind of night-life you'd find almost anywhere.

But tonight, there wasn't even the sounds of that. I had Data-Sora dismiss his Keyblade, and after Neku assured me I'd be able to recall Riku's Keyblade at any time I did the same. For some reason it didn't feel right walking around my hometown with one in hand... let alone the awkward questions that might have come up had someone seen us.

After going a ways into town though it became clear there was no one around to see. I even went to the one part of town I knew there should have been at least some activity only to find nothing.

"This isn't right," I murmured. "Something is very wrong here. It's never this quiet."

"It _is_ late at night," Data-Sora pointed out.

"Believe me, that doesn't matter. There's always at least one person around up here at the bridge. If not up here, then within sight, or hearing range. It's as if something has come through here and stolen everyone away."

"You're still in the datascape, Liam," Riku told me. Maybe it's just-"

"Just what?" I interrupted. "A data copy of my home? You won't find that anywhere in either of the Journals, Riku. I told no one about this, not just because I was using Sora's name at the time. Certainly not enough for a representation this detailed. I wouldn't put it past someone to be playing some kind of game here."

"Another book," Neku said shortly. "There's so much influence here I can't do a thing. I can't even tell you whether this is real, data, or some kind of fusion of both – making it seem like data to Riku when it's actually reality."

"Is that even possible?"

"Sort of. I can't really explain it properly. I don't want to offend you Liam, but most of your human languages are very limited."

"Tell me about it. I always-"

"Liam!" Data-Sora cried in alarm, pulling hard on my arm. He quickly pointed me to the road on one side of the bridge itself, where a single Neoshadow was stalking past, apparently unaware of our presence.

I was after it in a moment, infuriated by its appearance here. "How dare you," I hissed at it, making it look up and back away as I descended on it. "How dare you come here, to my home and profane it with your presence!"

I didn't bother to call Riku's Keyblade to hand, I didn't call on magic or even darkness. I just slammed bodily into it, picking it up and throwing it into the first obstacle that crossed my path, the window of a fish and chip shop I noticed in passing. The window smashed, as windows do when you throw someone into them. It was finished off with a blast of fire that I quickly extinguished the resulting fires from.

"Liam," Data-Sora murmured as he joined me. "I don't like to suggest it, but..."

"No," I said firmly. "I won't believe that. There's no way the Heartless could do this, not with Roxas here at least. Something is definitely going on here."

"Liam?" a voice I hadn't heard in some time asked. A voice of one of my friends from here, a friend I'd not seen for a long time. "What are you doing up this late? And breaking into a chippy too?"

"No," I repeated, quieter. "Show me the mirrors, the ropes, the fake walls. This isn't real now, I know it."

"What are you talking about?"

"This isn't real. It can't be real. You aren't really here. He moved abroad years ago, there's no reason for him to be here. Stop hiding, Charlie!" I burst out. "You can't fool me this way!"

"Soon, Liam," Charlie muttered through the form of my friend as it faded away to reveal his usual self again. "Soon enough, I'll catch you out and deal with you myself."

"Bring it on, you coward! Come out and fight me yourself, stop all this stupid fooling around!"

"Oh, no little lamb. Too much has to happen before that. You don't know how many others have taken an interest in your activities here. Be off with you!"

Our view was washed white again, depositing us in Hollow Bastion at the far end of the Rising Falls.

"This isn't the next world we're meant to go to," Data-Sora said.

"That depends on who's story you're following," I replied. "And look there," I pointed ahead, where Heartless were already appearing and looking toward us. "They already know I'm here."

"What's that meant to mean?"

"Neku had a theory. Each of the worlds in the datascape are actually as they should be, the troubles just started when I got there – because when I got there, the Heartless also came here. The early worlds were manipulated into making Mickey bring me here, and I stupidly played right into their hands when I left Roxas behind. Charlie, Anti-Liam, whoever the guy in the coat was – at least one of them is behind it, if not all of them."

"Would your Heartless stoop to that level?"

"I would," I answered bitterly. "If I didn't choose to burden myself with morals and ethics and the like. I could do worse than he could, I don't doubt... it's the choice not to that sets him apart from me."

"If you know that though..."

"Then so does he. He and I will have to fight sooner or later, and-" I broke off. "Of course. I don't know why I didn't see it before."

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Riku complained. "What have you figured out this time?"

"It's so blindingly simple I didn't even stop to think of it. Did you ever learn much about Ventus and what happened to him?"

"I remember hearing about him once or twice, nothing all that detailed, why?"

"Because Xehanort practically forced him into a position where he'd have to fight Vanitas, who was formed from all the darkness in Ventus, stripping him clean of it. Ventus was nothing but light, Vanitas dark. When two of equal power clash... that's what's happening here. I use the darkness but I won't submit to it, that puts me firmly on the side of light."

"I'm still missing your point," Riku admitted.

"I'm not," Neku said as he appeared nearby. "The guy in the coat is Xehanort. With Xemnas and Xehanort's Heartless both gone, he's free to come back. He's in on what's going on as well, trying to force a meeting between Liam and his Heartless just as he did Ventus and Vanitas. He's trying to make them forge the X-Blade."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Data-Sora admitted. "But Riku – on one of my trips through the datascape before Mickey brought Liam in, he told me he'd copied all the data from the Door to Darkness database in the Radiant Garden network. You should be able to use that to find out what he's on about, then just download the information into my data and I'll figure it out from there."

"You realize if he's got hands in this, you won't be able to get out of it," Neku warned me.

I looked him in the eye and answered, "It just depends on which side of me is left holding the blade then, doesn't it? It won't do Xehanort or my Heartless or even Charlie any good as long as it's in my hands."

"Holding a blade with that much power in it though... I don't know if I should let you."

"If there's another book involved, you might not have a choice."

"You don't understand, Liam. There's enough power in that blade to destroy me – or any of my relatives. I've come to know you since we first crossed paths, and I know your Heartless through that. I'm afraid that if it doesn't end up in your hands, whoever does hold it will destroy me, and I'm also afraid that if it does... I don't want to contemplate the idea of death. Not for me, not for my relatives... not at all. But if you hold that blade..."

"Keep your influence over me strong, Neku," I told him. "The least you'll be able to do is stop me abusing it."

"I can't even do that," he shook his head. "You'll be totally immune to me from the moment you touch that blade to the moment you destroy it."

That wasn't the most pleasant thought to be left with. I could end up holding a weapon that terrified even Neku – with good reason.


	17. Big Plans

The Heartless of Hollow Bastion remained as passive toward us as the Guard Armour originally had. They were not like nearly every Heartless since then, which had treated me as an enemy because I'd attacked them and their companions.

They eyed Data-Sora almost eagerly, though appeared to leave him be only because he accompanied me from rock to floating rock through the canyon's roaring waterfalls – if they can still be called 'falls' when they go up instead of down. The fine spray from them occasionally caught us, but was hardly enough to get us wet.

Neku had simply vanished again rather than join us, though I suspected that was more out of the fear he had of what could happen. The very fact that he was just as afraid of the blade ending up in my hands as he was in anyone elses bothered me more than a little, something overshadowed by only one thing – the other book involved, whoever he was, would be just as vulnerable to it as he was, and I'd be immune to their influence too. Neither book would have a hold on me, but neither would either of them be safe from me if I turned on them, which could have been what instilled fear into Neku too. He had no idea what I could do if I held it.

Enough of that though. Justification is all well and good, but it doesn't change what happened – or happens for you, since you haven't read about it yet.

"No Beast," I noted when we reached the damaged arches and fountains where I had first tried to confront Riku when I originally came here.

"No Riku," Riku added. "You know, it's kinda ironic – when we were there last, I took your Keyblade from you, now you're there having taken mine from me."

"Hey, at least you gave me yours willingly," I pointed out. "I wonder where you are, if you're not here?"

"I'm out here, of course."

"Not you, I mean the data Riku."

"He's waiting for you in the Entrance Hall," Data-Sora supplied. "There's someone else there with him that's not from the datascape."

"I'll look into it," Riku told us, then unexpectedly added, "I wonder if my room is there?"

"Probably, we did find it when we were trying to find our way through the maze in the library."

"Are we going to move on or not?" Data-Sora asked with the faint irritation that most people often see when I'm impatient. "I mean, it's not like there's anything keeping us here."

"You've got competition, Lee," Riku laughed as we got moving again. "He's as bad as you are."

"So I've heard," I replied, recalling the similar sentiment voiced by Mickey.

The massive doors to the hallway were of course, locked. I knew they would be, but Riku insisted we check them anyway before heading down to the maze below. When I'd gone here previously it had been without the Keyblade but with Jafar's stolen staff and with Beast, and I demonstrated – at length – that I was capable of a great deal when irritated, including blasting my way through the maze instead of playing its puzzle games.

Here though, the puzzle was fully intact thanks to Jiminy keeping the Journal up to his usual standards of accuracy. Without the experience of having properly solved it last time, it was more of a chore than I'd expected. Data-Sora was at least more helpful than Beast, working with me without needing an explanation to speed up progress on many of the puzzles.

When we finally returned to the lift that took us up to the upper levels we were treated to an unusual sight. A single Novashadow Heartless that ignored us entirely, instead of watching us pass by passively. It took the lift up to the broad pathways outside the Entrance Hall, closely followed by us as we followed curiously.

Outside the doors to the Entrance Hall were a mass of Shadows all trying to get into the Entrance Hall. I almost made to attack them, but Data-Sora lightly held me back, looking oddly bemused.

The Novashadow regarded the Shadows for a moment, then with great swings of the arms it clawed its way through the Shadows toward the door, occasionally ducking into its own shadow to get ahead of them, then bursting out of it with a shockwave that eliminated them even quicker.

Then with the teeming mass of Shadows began to diminished, it ducked down once again and headed under the door and into the Entrance Hall. The remaining Shadows wavered like an image on a water's surface, then vanished.

"A memory," I murmured. "That was... what I did as a Heartless."

"You sound surprised," Riku commented.

"I'd almost forgotten about that time. I've never really actively tried to remember it. Did you find out what's on the other side of the door?"

"You," he replied. "Or rather, your Heartless. But in all honesty, it's very hard to tell the difference between the two of you right now. He's grown a lot."

"Don't remind me," I muttered darkly, then set myself. "Lets get this over with. I'm probably going to have to fight him."

"Don't be so sure of that," Charlie murmured. "There are big plans waiting for you both in there."

Note here what I missed – 'big plans'. Sound familiar? It should do, it's the same words Anti-Liam used to Data-Sora.

True enough, he was stood next to the datascape's Riku, who as he should do was in dark mode, the Heartless emblem emblazoned on the suits front. The only difference was the eyes, not the blue-green they should have been but the amber that clearly indicated the datascape Riku had been persuaded to align with the darkness far more than the real thing had.

"Well if it isn't my errant other half," Anti-Liam said sardonically. "Or maybe that should be third if you count Roxas but, oh look – he doesn't seem to be with us."

"Quit dragging it out," I said shortly. "What do you want now?"

"I'm not interested in you any more." He tossed it out almost negligently. "Well, I am," he amended, "But you've taken a back seat to make way for other, bigger plans. You're ready?" he asked data-Riku.

"Like you need to ask," he drawled. "This'll be too easy."

"He's not as confident as he sounds," the real Riku told me quietly. "If he's still acting the way I would, then he knows he can't win. If you end up fighting him, he'll try to keep your attention on him but he won't go on the offensive. You'll have to force him into a position where he'll fight you, because if you turn your back he'll turn on you in an instant. Whichever of you fights him is going to be kept away from whatever Lee's Heartless is up to."

"We'll see about that," I replied.

My own Heartless meanwhile had drawn out one of Charlie's feathers, as he had done before kept moving, twirled between two fingers.

"Let's get started," he grinned, waving his free hand toward me. Data-Riku's eyes turned an even deeper yellow with that wave, then Soul Eater appeared in his hand as he lunged for me. There was quite a distance between them at the fountain and us at the door though, and I had plenty of time to raise Way to the Dawn and brush the attack aside easily, using Gravity to drag him clear of me so I could keep an eye on Anti-Liam. Data-Sora quickly caught my intentions and moved between Riku an me.

"Just you and me," I told my Heartless. "Lets see if you're as good as you think you are."

"Think again," he replied. He appeared to freeze before me, completely immobile, then from where Data-Sora was holding off data-Riku his voice came, "Too slow!" The frozen image of him vanished as Data-Sora flew past to splash into the fountain, Anti-Liam quickly heading after him with his darkened Gilded Light in hand, while I fended off a renewed attack by data-Riku.

Riku had been right about one thing, his data counterpart was not fighting to win. He watched me carefully, matching my movements to ensure I had to go through him to reach my Heartless or Data-Sora. He even went so far as to watch my hands for the tell-tale signs that I was preparing to cast magic, with or without words, and intercepting my attempts to cast it before the spell was finished, wasting magic and leaving me in a worse position than before. The way this was going, I couldn't even get a healing spell out to undo what harm he had inflicted.

I needed a new plan, something that would catch him off guard, and I decided in the moment not to call on Neku or darkness for it. I'd need magic, but I needed a way around his noticing it. While I worked my way through it, I kept up the pretence of trying to outflank him to reach the fight between Anti-Liam and Data-Sora, which was by far an unfair fight. Data-Sora was having to give up ground constantly, and work hard to handle many of the tricks I'd come up with that had now been turned on him.

The answer to my problem came to me from my own Heartless, of all places. He threw a spell at Data-Sora without speaking a word, a trick I'd come up with some time back. What if that could be extended to the accompanying gestures as well? What if I could cast a spell without saying a word, without making a single movement to betray my actions?

It would cost more magic to cast a spell that way, I already knew that – silently casting already incurred a higher cost to the magic because you'd removed the verbal component of the spell, no doubt this would be no different. The question was, how to alter a spell further to allow what I needed?

An idea was stolen from Roxas as the test spell, the fusion of Aero and Fire he put to excellent use in the Beast's Castle during the mission where Xion borrowed his Keyblade to create a blazing indoor tornado.

The first attempt to cast that failed entirely, since I discovered it's very hard to overcome long-standing habits. I'd become accustomed to casting with some movement, throwing the spell from one hand, using the Keyblade as a focus, and others. Data-Riku caught the slight movements that I hadn't caught and attacked me, Soul Eater cutting through the minimal defences I was able to raise. He aimed for my hands, trying to disarm me or just take my free hand out of commission as that was my spellcasting hand.

If at first you don't succeed, as the saying goes, and the second try turned out no better. The habit was still too deeply ingrained in me; I had to get this right before my Heartless overwhelmed Data-Sora and managed to do whatever it was he had planned.

Two more failed attempts, then I finally pulled it off with near-perfect timing. Data-Sora managed to push Anti-Liam away from him and as luck had it he stumbled back right into the line of sight I had on data-Riku. I cast the spell finally overcoming the habit to data-Riku's surprise as the Aero part of the spell whipped up the winds in the hall, suddenly igniting when Fire took effect right before it caught the helpless data-Riku, easily flinging him into one wall leaving him on fire that stubbornly refused to submit to the normal means of putting yourself out. The spell continued on its path, bearing down on Anti-Liam who noticed too late and was thrown similarly against the opposing wall.

Anti-Liam didn't waste time futilely trying to put himself out, instead he just snapped, "_Esuna_!" to remove the flames. Data-Riku was back on his feet in a moment and headed for Data-Sora's unprotected rear, and I found to my chagrin that the amount of magic needed for that spell combined with the drain my failed attempts had costed me left me too short of magic to use Teleport to intercept him.

Data-Sora was sent flying into the fountain for a second time after data-Riku's attack, then he quickly came to intercept me again before I interfered again. I brushed him aside again though, attacking him physically then using Gravity again while he was still busy avoiding my borrowed Keyblade.

I was too late though. Data-Sora picked himself out of the fountain only to be met by my Heartless, still holding the feather in one hand. He didn't throw it, at that range there was no need, he simply flattened it in his hand and pushed the flat hand and feather into Data-Sora's chest.

Data-Sora up until that moment had looked identical to the real Sora up until the end of Chain of Memories, the same as I had while I'd been going through that part of Sora's life. He changed quickly when the feather's effect, not to mention anything my Heartless had added, hit him.

The gloves on his hands changed from silver to black, the jacket mimicking the same alterations. The jacket continued to change though, going from black to blue, then his shoes started to change too, first turning red, then back to yellow, flickered briefly blue, and finally grey.

Data-Riku and I both stopped to watch as the changes continued, the colours flickering in and out between the changed colours and the originals. Once he seemed to become very similar to Anti-Liam himself, or possibly me while in Anti-Form, during which his Keyblade was dismissed. He changed back once again to the normal coloured clothing while his hair remained black that gave him a startling resemblance to Vanitas.

Then he returned once more to normal with an odd pulse in the air that threw my Heartless back, but left nothing else harmed or even moved at all – the fountain's waters didn't gain even a small wave.

"You _won't_ overpower me that easily," Data-Sora told my Heartless. "Nice try though."

"All in good time," Anti-Liam replied calmly. "All in good time. My work here is done." Then he disappeared into a dark corridor.

"Get back here!" data-Riku demanded hotly. "You haven't done what you agreed to!" He quickly dived into the corridor before it closed.

"Are you alright?" I asked Data-Sora.

"I'm fine," he answered. "I'm not sure what he was trying to do. I could hear him in my head, trying to get me to do what he wanted, but he couldn't overpower me and make me do anything. He didn't get anything out of it."

"I think you're wrong, Sora," Riku broke in. "It was another smokescreen. While you were tied up holding him off, he managed to steal some of your data. He has write-access to the datascape too now, and he's locked me out using it. I can see and hear you, but I can't do anything, even look at anything anywhere else. I've completely lost contact with Mickey and those with him."


	18. Enter the Darkness

Riku had definitely been right about one thing – my Heartless had grown a great deal, capable of nearly anything I was. There were differences, of course, but all I'd seen of them so far indicated they were minor only. When I finally went up against him I'd have possibly the greatest challenge yet.

I put those thoughts aside and focused though, using Data-Sora's memory of Hollow Bastion to navigate it much more easily. He showed no signs of what my Heartless had done to him with Charlie's feather, no indication that anything was out of the ordinary.

Interestingly, the puzzle in the library was already solved, giving us immediate access to Riku's room and the rooms beyond. We stopped by his room, but as I'd thought there was nothing there of note – yet.

Most of the puzzles and tedious traipsing around that you do at this point is to unlock the door at the back of the Entrance Hall, as you probably remember. It never occurred to me that since data-Riku had left in pursuit of Anti-Liam instead of fleeing from me that he hadn't actually locked the doors. I felt a little foolish for not thinking of that.

This meant we headed more or less unimpeded to the castle Chapel. I say 'more or less' because someone had neatly installed traps along the way, traps that were concealed as pressure plates in the floor that mimicked the floor almost perfectly, triggering all manner of unpleasantness – from spikes poking out of the walls to the floor quite suddenly dropping away.

"I'm getting a little tired of this," Data-Sora muttered close to the end. "If there's one more trap here, I'm going to... I don't know."

On cue, a trap triggered that caused a sudden outbreak of Soldiers around us.

"You were saying?" I asked, skewering the closest one.

"Oh, sod off!" he snapped irritably – and they did.

"Did he just-" Riku started.

"He did," I agreed, looking with some surprise at him. "Looks like they given you some darkness too."

"Great," he muttered. "Now I'm not the odd one out any more."

"What's that meant to mean?"

"You two both have darkness of your own, I was untouched by it until that happened."

"Don't you feel better for fitting in though?" Riku laughed. "At least you've got a decent role-model to look up to – I've never known anyone to have greater control over their darkness than Liam."

"You're overstating it," I replied. "It's not as good as you think, at least not lately."

"But it hasn't harmed your heart yet," Riku pointed out. "Not even Ansem the Wise managed to hold off that."

"You have," I almost accused him.

"I had a good mentor," he answered. "Even if he does have a bad temper and a crush on me."

"What's this?" Data-Sora asked with amusement. "You have a crush on him?"

"Didn't I tell you to keep that to yourself?" I asked acidly.

"Funnily enough I don't recall that. Call it revenge for all those times you teased me about it."

"Lets just get on with this," I muttered.

"Are you blushing there Lee?" Riku asked innocently. I refused to answer that one.

The Chapel was deserted, though interestingly it already held the familiar portal through which I'd gone to confront Maleficent in her dragon form and later Xemnas. It refused us passage though, just leaving us on the other side of the portal in the Chapel.

Then it flickered, was surrounded by blue sparks and spat out a mass of Heartless.

"No!" I commanded quickly when I saw Data-Sora prepare to order them away. "You don't dare do that any more than I do!"

"There's too many to fight here, Lee," he shouted back over the mass rattling of the armour that adorns Soldiers and all their cousins, all of which were present. "You'd better come up with something, and quickly!"

The Keyblades were working, that much was certain, but as with Traverse Town – ah, how long ago that seemed! - they kept coming back, tossed out of the bugged portal at the same rate we were clearing through them.

My magic was still running low from all the use it had seen in the Entrance Hall, suspiciously low given how long it had had to recharge and apparently done so only slowly – more interference, and more blatant than usual as well.

Darkness was no option, not given how bad my Heartless was already, unless...

"Neku, I need to know something," I said, my voice muffled by the Heartless.

"What now?" There was a faint tone to his voice that suggested he was still haunted by the idea of what could happen.

"Whenever I've used Anti-Form before, it's protected me from the effects of the darkness completely. Would that also prevent my Heartless from learning whatever I'm up to in that form?"

"If it didn't before, it does now," he answered after a short delay. "He'll know you're using that form, but he won't get anything. You can be as creative as you like and he'll never know a thing."

"Thanks Neku. Just what I need."

He didn't answer, but he always has had a habit of keeping to himself.

With that little extra handled, I did what I could to clear most of the Heartless around me then for the first time in the datascape I pulled out Anti-Form. Thought was harder in this form, as it's always been, I think at a more primal, even instinctual level. Not even Riku's Keyblade would answer me in this form, but with the clawed hands reminiscent of those I'd had as a Novashadow I didn't need one.

But of course in steeping myself so in the darkness, I heard it calling to me. Indistinct and ever present, the whispering was there again. Trying to tempt me, to lure me away from me firm standpoint opposing the abuse of it. I would _not_ become my own Heartless in that regard. My own stubbornness was echoed in the whispers, but the more simple level of thinking also made it harder for them.

I don't know why I went through that. You already know what it's like.

I vaguely remember hearing Riku give a warning about something but it was lost in the blurred moment the form took hold on me. I already saw the Heartless closing in on me again, and I could sense more behind me that I hadn't dealt with in time. I spun on the spot, as if caught in a tornado, with arms outstretched to slice at the lot with the claws, eliminating the lot in moments, then bounded after the recoiling Heartless behind.

Heartless after Heartless fell easily to me this way, this was where I had a truly terrific power I could put to work without worrying about the troublesome side effects. Having only a limited time in the form and a longer time before I could pull out another one – a cool down time, if you will – made sure I couldn't abuse this.

In this form every attack I landed restored my magic at a far greater rate than it had done before. I capitalized on that, recharging it until there was nothing left to restore then pulled out one of the most devastating and rarely used attacks I had: Dark Haze. Those it doesn't destroy immediately become Doomed, with only seconds to live.

Despite the simple thinking, I made one creative alteration to it. Rather than simply ghosting through all the Heartless in my path to where I'd end up, I reached out and touched as many as I could, using the latent darkness in them to connect where I ordinarily would not have. Then, when I landed the destructive blows that marked my reappearance to all others, every last one of them had become Doomed with those survivors.

There weren't many Heartless left after that. The portal started to deliver Heartless at a more rapid rate, but those Heartless weren't interested in fighting any more, they wanted only to get away from me. I chased them down, almost herding those that managed to keep away from me for Data-Sora to finish off, the last one impaled on his Keyblade and my claws simultaneously. As it was destroyed the portal de-bugged and returned to normal even as I did the same, the form cancelling out leaving me with one hand extended where the Heartless had been.

"Liam!" Riku said with relief. "You're back with us – are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Nothing I do in that form can affect me, or my Heartless thanks to Neku."

"You didn't see what happened then?"

"I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, why?"

"Your form... it didn't exactly work the same way it normally did," he answered evasively. "I mean, it worked alright, but you uh..."

"I what? Spit it out."

"You looked like a Novashadow wearing those clothes," Data-Sora murmured, pointing at me.

In case you're wondering, the same crown necklace I put on way back at the start for my armour also gives me the same magic clothes I got from Yen Sid, though altered slightly to take into account Sora and I aren't the same size. I guess I never really mentioned it.

"It's probably just a side effect of what's going on," I dismissed it. "Let's try that portal again, and if it still won't work we'll head on to the Grand Hall."

"You wish," Charlie murmured. I clearly saw the look on Data-Sora's face that indicated he'd heard Charlie too this time. He looked to me with an almost guilty look, but I pretended not to notice.

There was nothing to trouble us on the way into the Grand Hall, no traps, no Heartless, it was almost suspiciously quiet. When we reached the doors that led in, I pushed them very gently, only allowing them to open as far as I needed to make sure it was clear, then far enough to let us slip silently in.

The embrasures where six of the seven Princesses had been ensconced on my original visit here were not empty. They were occupied, not by the Princesses, but by other familiar figures. On the left, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, the right data-Riku still bearing his dark form, Tron and curiously, Anti-Sora – that is, Data-Sora's Heartless, not my own one.

The hallway ahead looked the same with one difference. Before the twin staircases leading up to where I'd fought Riku while under Ansem's influence there was a marble bier upon which the unmoving form of Kairi lay, behind her, none other than Maleficent herself stood.

"He told me you'd come," Maleficent spoke to me as if merely continuing a conversation that had been interrupted. "This time, you're too late though. The Keyhole is already open."

"So you're not the data copy of you," I said. "You realize of course, it doesn't matter here in this datascape what happens to that Keyhole."

"That's where you're wrong, Master Liam," she replied. "I've been assured that by having your friend there present," she gestured to the comatose figures held in the walls. "That this Keyhole can be linked to its partner in the real world... all I have to do is smother a sufficiently powerful heart with darkness!"

"And you think I'm going to let you do that? I'm the only candidate for that, and we both know you're no match for me. Besides, you owe me a favour."

"You called in that favour in the Organization's castle," she argued.

"You would have done the same thing if I hadn't mentioned it. You can also thank me for saving your life there too – I do believe I warned you the castle would be destroyed, and I watched it get destroyed."

"I was hardly in any danger. I departed for safer ground long before I saw what you caused. I even remained behind to watch you deal with Xemnas – quite a fight you had with him, I must say."

"Then you know exactly what will happen to you if you try to take me on."

"Me? Whatever gives you the idea that _I_ would be the one to see your heart consumed? It matters not whether I personally handle it or another does so... the Keyhole will be linked either way. No, I leave that in the capable hands of our honoured guest who awaits you above. Adieu, Master Liam," she added stepping back into a green flame.

Data-Sora immediately went to Kairi, checking her over briefly. "Data," he reported shortly. "Even then, she's only sleeping. Not the same kind of sleep caused by a missing heart."

"Riku, can you-" I started.

"No, I can't," he cut me off. "You're forgetting your Heartless locked me out of any and all datascape controls. I can see you two, and if I need to I can transfer myself into the datascape – not that I can see any reason to just yet. If you want to know who this 'honoured guest' is, you're going to have to go up there yourself."

"Come on," I said to Data-Sora, tugging on one arm. "You and I need to stick together."

"One moment," he replied, looking around curiously.

"We don't have time for this, Sora."

"Oh stop that," he said irritably. "Or don't you want me to figure this out?"

"It might help if I knew what 'this' is!"

Data-Sora gave an exasperated sigh, closed his eyes and concentrated, then held out his Keyblade in front of him. It glowed for a moment then was enveloped in a flash. When it cleared it was still pixellated, but it was no longer a pixellated Kingdom Key.

"Oblivion," Riku murmured, recognising it's new form immediately. "How did you do that?"

"I still have a part of my data that's not affected by the main datascape – the part I used earlier to keep my memories when Mickey restored the backups. I can access that at any time, just like I can any part of my code. I just accessed the Journal to fetch Oblivion's data and routed it through that."

"At least it's useful, now lets get a move on."

"Whatever you say, captain impatient."

I chose not to answer that, ascending one of the two staircases to the raised area before the Keyhole of Hollow Bastion with a strange sense of deja vu. In place of Riku though, there was a very familiar looking figure wearing a black coat, this time with the hood down. In either hand he held a glowing blue blade, more ornate versions of the Ethereal Blades he'd wielded as Xemnas.

"Xehanort," I said with a brief nod.

"Master Liam," he responded in kind. "We meet again. And it has been such a long time since we last met, no?"

"For you. I imagine you know by now why."

"Oh yes. Xemnas, Ansem – both of them were parts of me. Now I have their memories as well as my own."

"That means..."

"Yes," he nodded. "I remain incapable of wielding a Keyblade, but I'm no longer locked out of my own memories prior to taking this body from Terra. He's still there, still resisting, but every day I hold on his hold grows more tenuous."

"Enjoy it while you can. I intend to evict you from your stolen body and return it to it's rightful owner."

"All in good time, Master Liam," he chuckled. "You know it's not time for that yet. That story hasn't been told yet, has it?" That was surprising – did he know about the games? He must have caught my surprise because he laughed again and went on, "A recently met acquaintance informed me of a great many things. I believe you know of him."

"Charlie."

"That's him. Have we wasted enough time being civil to each other, Liam? Or are we about ready to move on?"

"You're even more deluded than you were before if you think you'll do any better than Maleficent would have."

"Why don't we find out just that then?" he grinned, raising one blade upward. A bolt of brilliant blue light shot up from it to form a barrier that enclosed us, roughly shoving Data-Sora off the platform. Xehanort wanted me to himself.


	19. Dark Play

Xehanort in this particular incarnation was a bit of a mystery to me. Ansem had not been much trouble, and as Master Xehanort I had never directly opposed him – maybe meddled a few times, but he and I had never actually clashed with each other. Only Xemnas had been an issue, and even he needed all the time to prepare for my arrival – and still lost.

Perhaps because he had a heart now, he was more cautious than either his Heartless or Nobody had been. I tested his defences a few times, not really achieving anything except to prove he could hold off the more basic attacks easily. He returned the favour, except in his case he didn't just test my defences, he pushed at me, lashing out with almost unerring accuracy.

With his two blades to my one, even without them being Keyblades, I was at a disadvantage. It's not the easiest situation to manage, but I'm not completely out of tricks. I sent a barrage of thunderbolts at him to keep him distracted, then quietly murmured, "Your turn, Ven – lend me a hand."

I don't call on the dimension links I picked up often, usually because I forget about them, but this one was different. Ventus had many more links to me than either of his friends, allowing me to borrow just a little more from him - but his heart, as it always was, was with Roxas, and there was only so much he could do.

"You think that's going to help you?" Xehanort remarked, seeing Riku's Keyblade exchange itself for Ven's Wayward Wind without prompting. I shook Wayward Wind into the reverse grip it's made for, then answered by retaliating with a series of blows, delivered with far quicker speed than I had done before. It was still a challenge with only one blade still, but I feinted a lot, looking as if I was aiming one way then as he raised one blade to counter it my attack quickly changed direction to take advantage of an opening.

Xehanort, unlike his previous two incarnations I'd met, is quite capable of learning and adapting on the go, and quickly at that. He appeared to start thinking ahead, seeming to play along with the feints I made but also keeping just close enough to deflect my attacks, or using both blades more actively to hold me off.

Then he just went overboard, ducking under one attack to withdraw then with a brief snap of its name that annoying Guardian appeared behind him. The long arms reached around to prevent me from getting to Xehanort now, getting clear only when he decided to retaliate.

"Just hit it," Neku told me. "I made the Guardian vulnerable for once."

The problem was getting to it without either of them attacking me. I had some magic restored, but not as much as I really wanted. I didn't really want to use it, but there didn't seem to be much point. Teleport was what I used of course, getting me behind them both. I only had a few moments before they reacted, barely achieving anything at all before they turned and the Guardian grabbed me.

Dear gods that thing is strong! Even in one hand alone the hold it had was too tight to even think of squeezing out of it. To make matters worse, Xehanort discarded one of his blades, peeled back one of the Guardian's massive fingers then put the hand on my chest.

"Open Sesame," he grinned viciously. I felt Ven's influence leave me, his Keyblade returning to Riku's own, which then dismissed itself as the darkness flared trying to get a hold on me. I wasn't going to let it get ahead of me though, even without a Keyblade.

Rather than just using it though, I got creative again and sent it back the same way it was coming instead. Maybe Xehanort doesn't have as much to worry about as I do, but it should still bother him. I didn't send all of it though, I kept a part of it then when he wasn't expecting it unleashed the lot on him, throwing him back against the Guardian, which dropped me.

Riku's Keyblade returned to me with a single thought thankfully, and once I'd taken a moment to run out a quick healing spell I continued my own assault, leading with a strike at Xehanort's remaining blade while he was still recovering from the sudden blast of darkness I'd sent, then moving on to the Guardian itself.

The Guardian, in it's dull mind finally realizing it was no longer invulnerable, chose to withdraw after only a few attacks and left me with only Xehanort left – who had managed to retrieve both of his blades while my attention had been on the Guardian.

I already knew I was at a disadvantage against him without resorting to magic or darkness, I needed to come up with something he wouldn't expect. Until I did that, I played a hit and run situation, though mostly the try-not-to-get-hit and run.

A little insight into a very old trick I'd once played on someone who thought it funny to try and bully me and I almost laughed at the simplicity of the idea. Would it work? One way to find out. I let him get up close again, then suddenly blurted at him, "Turtle!"

He stopped dead and blinked. I expected him to go 'What?' but instead he said "Where?"

I just dropped Riku's Keyblade and hit him squarely in the face, sending him stumbling back with a look of shock on his face. He definitely wasn't expecting that.

"There," I told him to the accompaniment of Data-Sora laughing at him. "Did you want to give up already, by the way?" I added. "We're not getting anywhere here, or had you noticed that?"

"Don't you ever give up?" he asked acidly.

"You really need an answer to that?"

Xehanort didn't answer me. He picked up his other blade, then with an absent shake of his hands they disappeared.

"Don't think this is over yet," he told me. "You've no idea just what we've got in store for you. Starting with this!" He threw darkness at me, and I could tell by the taste of the air itself he hadn't directed it at all. It passed easily through the barrier he'd erected, shattering it and narrowly missing Data-Sora as he dived aside, not wanting any more trouble from his newly acquired darkness.

I on the other hand took a more direct approach, channelling a Reflect spell through my own darkness, surrounding myself with it, then pushing through the storm of darkness he was throwing at me.

He seemed surprised again when I emerged from it not far from him without a mark on me, but not enough that he wasn't able to react. He dispelled my own barrier with a snap of his fingers then just redirected some of the darkness into me before he disappeared.

With his disappearance the darkness left, the Way to the Dawn dismissed itself yet again, the six figures in the embrasures below vanished leaving only a ball of light above them that was joined by one similarly from the comatose Kairi who also disappeared, then at last the seven lights reached me and coalesced into the familiar and not entirely welcome form of the Keyblade of People's Hearts, which clattered to the floor. I made no move for it.

Data-Sora came back into view, apparently having escaped harm.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"I'm fine," I replied quietly. "I managed to avoid most of the effects. He just disrupted my darkness again, but I can handle it."

"Are you sure you're alright? You don't sound right." I just pointed to the Keyblade in front of me. "Is that..."

"The Keyblade of People's Hearts," I nodded, then gestured down to the now empty hall below. "By the looks of things, formed from them somehow."

"But that's... you think someone might be interfering again?"

"This is the datascape, and my Heartless has full access to it," I reminded him. "He could have made any number of changes to the data behind it, including this."

With a great reluctance, and and even stronger sense of deja vu than I'd had before seeing Xehanort, I picked up that blade. It was complete, unlike the one Riku once wielded, but there really isn't much of a difference. Like the original it had no chain attached to it, but the key part was unbroken, completing the heart shape that had only been partly seen before now.

There passed a long moment after I'd taken it where not a sound or move was made. Even Riku's Keyblade had followed after my own one and refused to respond to me, but this Keyblade, one formed apparently by my friends, by them, data-Riku, Kairi and the Heartless of Data-Sora, this one had no problem with me. I knew what power it held, and what I'd done with it last time I held it. If I turned it on myself a second time there would be no Nobody created, only a Heartless that was the core of all the darkness in me.

"What's the wait, Keyblade Master?" Charlie asked. "We know what'll happen – what's the worse that could happen?"

"Shut up, Charlie," I told him. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Why don't you tell us then?" Data-Sora suggested.

"I've told enough people already what happened last time I stood here and held this Keyblade, along with everything that went with it. This time is different though.. this time he's not going to be there afterwards."

"Who isn't?" he asked. As if it wasn't obvious enough.

"Roxas," the answer came. "I... he won't appear because..." I stopped. They already knew this.

Charlie finished for me though. "He won't appear because you left him behind, covering for you in your life so you could come rushing off here, leaving you incomplete. You can't create a second Nobody," he went on relentlessly. "And this time there's no Kairi around to restore you, is there?" His voice took on a tone of condescendingly mocking anguish. "Poor, dear, Keyblade Master, stuck as a Heartless forever. Such a loss that would be, wouldn't it? But you know there's no other choice..."

There's always a choice though, even if it isn't readily apparent. Despite what he was saying, I would not turn it on myself again unless it came down to that.

"Don't listen to him, Lee!" Data-Sora told me insistently. "You don't have to do it, at least not yet! We'll find another way!" I'm not entirely sure he knew what he was talking about, but I could be wrong. He was based on me, after all.

"And what about in the meantime?" I demanded. "You've seen what's happening yourself," I told him, meaning the reaction the Heartless were having to me. "Do you really think I can just let that slide?"

"You can't just go sacrificing yourself if there's no hope of getting you back, you've said yourself I need you. Leave it off until you can figure out a way around this, a way that doesn't involve losing you."

"Do it, Liam," Charlie taunted again. "Do it again. Become Heartless, become one with the darkness in you. Let it all out and be that dark being you've always been at heart. Let yourself become your own Heartless, and Sora will have no choice but to destroy you. Isn't that what you want? To have all that is dark about you gone? Go on, Liam. You know you want to."

"I told you to shut up, Charlie!"

"Or what?" It was said in a quiet, harsh voice. Neku often caused people to get the feelings behind his words, but Charlie used the same effect to make his malevolence known. "My brother might be on your side human, but he cannot stand against me any more than I can against him. What one of us changes, the other cannot unchange, only alter further. He caused all this ultimately, but he can't change it now because I've altered it, I've intervened. You're beyond his power now, and way into mine."

"Brother?" I breathed, taking this in. We'd been wrong all along, so focused on handling the situation at hand that we hadn't stopped to think properly. Even Neku had pushed the possibility aside, but Charlie left no doubt about it now. "Sora, run and don't you dare question me!" I snapped. I doubted it would have made much difference, Charlie could be wherever he wanted just like Neku could, but I really didn't want to stick around the same place I'd turned myself into a Heartless before.


	20. Turning Tables

I already knew that no matter where I went, unless I had Neku make arrangements before Charlie managed to intervene, he'd continue to camp on my shoulder as he had from the start. I had to think quickly as we headed back into the maze of Hollow Bastion, heading straight through the library and out into the puzzles beyond.

As soon as we were out of the Grand Hall, I started talking very rapidly, hoping I could stay ahead.

"Neku, how much of an influence does Charlie have here?"

"You know there's no way to tell," he answered, not bothering to appear.

"I think you're wrong – you just have to nudge at things here and there through the world, and see how much resistance there is."

There was a long silence, then he finally replied, "Sometimes you're so smart you make me want to hit you. To answer your question, very little – at the moment."

"I need you to influence a specific area enough that he'd have to change things to get in, and also to see or hear inside."

"I get it," Data-Sora nodded, "Because Neku will have done that, Charlie won't be able to do enough to get around it."

"You want me to pick the place, or you?" Neku asked.

"I'll pick it, but I don't want to give him the chance to interfere too soon. Can you get everything ready, then apply it to a place all in one go so he doesn't have time?"

"I think so. What I have to do is-" he broke of. "Never mind. It doesn't translate very well. I'll be able to do it, just don't get mention the place or anything until I say so."

"What've you got in mind for this place?" Data-Sora panted, struggling to keep up with me. I'd have wondered how I'd kept going for so long, but I was busy planning."

"We need a place without Charlie around to handle a few things. I don't want to say too much, just in case. Neku, you'd better do what you can to keep out anything or anyone influenced by him too."

"Already thought of that, but there's an issue," he responded. "You two both fall under that. Sora's darkness isn't technically his, it was just forced on him by your Heartless and his alliance with Charlie – just as your own lack of control over yours is similarly influenced by him."

"Then find a way to get rid of those influences!" I flared. "Shift them to someone else or something, I don't know!"

We emerged out on the upper balcony of the Entrance Hall, and since we were still buying time for Neku I lead the way back down again, planning to head back into the maze. Data-Sora joined me after muttering something I didn't quite hear, only to find that as he landed, a mass of Heartless shot up out of the floor.

"Someone's going to hear from me about this," he muttered darkly. The two of us stood almost back to back, circling round to fend them off from all sides. I couldn't tell how well he was handling it, but if the long strings of comments he passed to emphasize his blows were anything to go by, he was doing fine.

I on the other hand was managing to hold them off with relative ease, sending magic coursing through this Keyblade almost easier than I had any other. Various combinations of spells were left bouncing around the Heartless, some even literally bouncing when a curious fusion of Reflect, some water magic I'd recalled from Demyx and Aero formed a large sphere that actually did bounce around the room until the tension broke and sent a flood of water everywhere.

More concerning to me though was what happened to the Heartless I slew. Those of them that were Emblem Heartless released their hearts of course, but they did not flow away as they should have done. They flowed in a steady stream into the Keyblade of People's Hearts – the one I held.

"Alright," Neku finally said. "I've got it. Let me give you a hand with these, then we can get on with this."

"Isn't that cheating?" Data-Sora threw over his shoulder.

"So what? The other side has been cheating from the start, it's about time we returned the favour," I told him.

"Cross your Keyblades," Neku barked. Ignoring the Heartless around us, we both turned and did just that. Instead of the usual sparks that flew when two Keyblades collided, the two glowed with a white aura that burst outwards, eliminating the Heartless in the room in moments. This time the Hearts from them were not released, curiously.

"Alright, you're sure about this?" I asked Neku.

"No, but there's only one way to find out. I'm pushing at the boundaries of what I can do, Liam. Just say the word. I'll take you there at the same time so there's even less chance of my brother interfering."

"Riku's room."

No sooner had I said it than our view changed to the library, just outside the concealed entrance to it.

"Quickly," Neku said. "Drop your Keyblades here and get inside. Don't let them dismiss themselves, they have to be left here."

We didn't question his words.

Neku awaited us in there, definitely looking concerned. Beside him, looking a little surprised, was Riku.

"Your friend here dragged me in to keep me safe," Riku explained. "Or so he told me."

"How did you do that, if you only just-" Data-Sora started.

"Let's not worry about how far I can twist time," Neku cut him off. "It's bad enough I get a headache, and I can understand it far better than any of you can. I think we're safe from Charlie for the moment, but I'm having to constantly make changes to make it work, so don't drag this out for too long."

"Right. How much did you see from outside?" I asked Riku.

"I watched your fight with Xehanort, overheard your discovery of Charlie being the other book and start to leave. That's when he showed up and got me here."

"Good enough. We've got three main problems here we have to solve."

"I can think of two," Data-Sora said. "Your darkness and mine. What's the third?"

"That Keyblade he sicked on me, but that can be dealt with later. Mine is simple anyway, I know exactly what I'm going to do for that – it's his I'm having trouble figuring out."

"You learned to handle yours," Data-Sora pointed out.

"And you showed me the way to handle mine," Riku added. "Not to mention Terra, or so you said."

"Actually I never exactly helped Terra," I confessed. "I didn't know exactly what could happen if he did keep it under control – it might have been enough to lock Xehanort out, and then things would have been completely different."

"Working in the past has it's own share of pitfalls, doesn't it?" he observed.

"Tell me about it," Neku muttered. "You wouldn't believe the lengths I had to go to. Not for him," he added, nodding toward me. "But one of the others who once held my book. Anyway, you don't have time enough for him to come to terms with his darkness. Lee was given it at Olympus Coliseum on his second visit to Olympus Coliseum, after Castle Oblivion. He had all the time from there up until you got to the Organization's castle to handle it; we don't have the same luxury here."

"How can you be sure?" Riku asked him.

"Simple. You remember I said I was pushing the boundaries? I can't touch Charlie of course, but I can touch on those he's influenced – Anti-Liam, data-Riku, Xehanort, and everyone he used to form that Keyblade Liam left outside. Through them I'm starting to piece together their plan and even a bit of the timetable."

"What have you picked up so far?" Data-Sora asked curiously.

"Liam was right – Xehanort has an alliance with Charlie to try and force a fight between him and his Heartless, for the same reason he forced one between Ventus and Vanitas. Charlie gets rid of you," Neku told me. "He sees you as a threat because of me, and because he can't get at me. Xehanort gets the X-blade and the new world he wants."

"Only if we let him," I disagreed. "I need a little information so I can handle that. I know the thought of it scares you, but be honest, Neku – wouldn't you rather that blade was in my hands than theirs?"

"Only because I know you," he conceded very reluctantly. "I'd rather not let that infernal blade exist at all, but because of it's very nature I'm completely incapable of affecting it even indirectly."

"I just need to know one thing," I assured him. "Last time it appeared, what made it go to Vanitas instead of Ventus?"

Neku's expression went distant for a moment, then troubled before he answered, "I'll be right back. I need to look at this in more detail. Don't worry about Charlie, it'll last until I get back." Then he vanished.

"You've got a plan, haven't you?" Riku asked me. "I know you – or at least I think I do. You look entirely too confident not to be up to something."

"We need time – time for me to regain control of my darkness before I tackle my Heartless, and time for Sora to get that control in the first place. So why don't we arrange for it?"

"I don't follow. How are you going to make time?"

"I'm not. I'm just going to extend things a little. Think about it, Riku – after we locked the Door to Darkness, where did we go?"

"Castle Oblivion," he answered immediately, then realization dawned on him. "Oh, very nice. I see what you're up to now. You'll take the side I did originally, and combat your darkness the same way I did mine, and Sora can use the trials you went through as a way to learn to control his."

"And if you go with him in place of Donald and Goofy, as someone who already has that control, you'll only help him."

"The question is, will it work? What if Charlie's thought of this already and made changes at Castle Oblivion?"

"I've got a plan for that too," I grinned.

"It can wait," Neku answered, reappearing. There was a tear in one of the legs of his pants, and the ever-present headphones were askew.

"What happened to you?"

"Vanitas found me watching him just before you and Eraqus's apprentices got to the Keyblade Graveyard. I wasn't expecting it and he attacked me."

"You're alright?"

"I'm fine," he brushed it off. "It didn't happen to my book, so it hasn't actually done anything to me. Anyway, I found out what you needed to know. Vanitas got the blade because he's the one who attacked Ventus. If you can attack him before he's ready, in theory you should get it."

"Perfect. Now, while you were away-"

"I was listening. I'll need to hear your plan though – I stopped by Castle Oblivion on the way back. They haven't done much yet, but there's the start of it."

I pointed at Data-Sora. "He still has the original datascape safe. We can't access it because my Heartless stopped us, but you can get around that. Take the original, unmodified data for Castle Oblivion, then like we did here – make our changes to it before you overwrite the current data with it."

"You know I'm not good with data, Liam," he told me, shaking his head.

"Then don't treat it as data – treat it as a separate instance of the same world, because here in the datascape that's what they are – separate worlds. The greater world inside Sora is just a different version to the one we're in here, and this is a different one to the one outside."

"I'm not sure it'll work that way," he said a little doubtfully. "But it can't hurt to try. What changes do you need?"

"Similar to here – enough to stop Charlie from interfering. Make sure Riku gets to go through with Sora, and whatever you do, don't let us have to use the ridiculous card system the castle is meant to use."

"I see only one problem with your plan," Riku told me. "You don't have Ansem."

"But I do have my Heartless. You forced a fight with him when you reached the last floor, I just have to do the same thing."

"What about Charlie's influences on your Heartless?" Data-Sora suggested.

"I'll handle that," Neku announced. "The same way I handled it here – I'll transfer them to something else. Unfortunately I only have one target for that – you two had better be ready to handle the lord of the castle on the thirteenth floor. I also need you both to be ready to act on anything I pass to you. I'm still trying to figure out how to get Mickey and the others out of that Keyblade."

"There's time for that while we're going through Castle Oblivion," I told him. "The only question left is, can you do it?"

"Give me time," he said eventually. "It's a complex thing you're asking. I'm going to have to work carefully to keep you three safe here and prevent Charlie from finding out, and even then I don't guarantee anything."

"All the time in the world, dear boy," I grinned, taking a seat on the bed and leaning back. "They can't get in here, so this time we hold the all advantages."


	21. The Curiosities

Neku continued his work for some time, though I couldn't say how long exactly. None of us had any means of keeping time. During our wait we took turns keeping a lookout just in case Charlie, Xehanort or my own Heartless tried anything while Neku's attention was diverted.

Since we'd been on the go almost since I'd been transferred into the datascape, Data-Sora and I chose to use the time taking a break. Riku briefly filled us in on why Mickey had gone to retrieve him, explaining that the little King had decided it was necessary for an additional pair of hands around while he joined us in the datascape.

After a few rounds of us each taking a turn at the door to Riku's room, I woke to hear the distinctive sound of a Keyblade being struck against something. Since Data-Sora was still dozing away on the bed, it had to be Riku.

I quickly rolled to my feet and headed to the door, finding him just outside swinging his Keyblade against the massive blade of an Orcus Heartless that seemed to be having enough trouble fitting into the narrow access from the library, let alone trying to get in to reach us.

It spotted me behind Riku and gave a strange, almost hollow wail, lowering its blade and standing tall – as much as it could, at least. Riku almost attacked it, but I gave him a shock when I held him back.

"Don't appear out of nowhere like that!" he half-shouted. "You scared the life out of me."

"You almost left the area Neku's protecting," I told him. "Let me do this." Then I turned to the Heartless and commanded, "Leave us and spread the word through the other Heartless to stay away."

The Orcus gave another hollow cry and tried to brandish its blade at us, though the confined space prevented it from being all that effective.

"I wonder what it's trying to say?" Riku murmured curiously. "It's a shame there are no Heartless left that can talk. At least, none that would consider talking to us civilly," he amended. "Your Heartless has the same abrasive touch you do in a foul mood."

"I know," I said absently. "Find another way of communicating," I told the Orcus. "Until you do, do as I told you, and I don't want to see or hear another one of you here except your... interpreter."

_"We believe we can be of assistance, other of our Commander,"_ a voice sounded in my head. Riku shared a look with me, signifying he'd heard the voice too.

"Other of our Commander?" Riku mused. "That must mean..."

"My Nobody's Samurais," I finished. "You'd better show yourself."

One appeared between us and the Orcus with the same crackling sound all Nobodies appear with, then turned to us. _"We can comprehend the words of the Heartless and interpret for you,"_ it told us.

"One moment. How come you never showed up before? Roxas once told me he'd ordered you to keep an eye on me and lend a hand when you could."

_"We saw the threat to you and attempted to come to your aid, but we were prevented by an unknown force. It is only in this area we have discovered freedom from that force, but you had no need of us until now."_

"Charlie thinks of everything, doesn't he," Riku observed. "What do the Heartless want?"

_"It was not the intentions of this Heartless to attack. It was simply defending itself when Riku did not comprehend. Now Liam is here it wishes to ask a favour of him."_

"The Heartless want a favour? I'm intrigued, what do they want?" I asked.

The Samurai turned to the Orcus, where I assume they conversed in a means inaudible to us, then it turned back to us. _"It wishes you to take complete command over all Heartless within the datascape. The Heartless can pass the word between themselves, and will respect that command due to the darkness within you even if you do not specifically order them to follow you."_

"Why? Why do they want this?"

_"The alternative is to listen to the dark being that is your Heartless. He would marshal them into a force that he can use against you when the time comes for him to confront and attempt to overpower you."_

"A suggestion?" Riku said to me. "Be honest with me. This is exactly what you would do, right?"

"Well, maybe not quite so..." I hesitated, but continued, "so heartlessly as he would. I'd at least have a care for my allies rather than treating them like cannon fodder, but yes."

"Why don't we turn it on him? Ask them to help you instead of him. If Neku can hold off Charlie at Castle Oblivion, we can ask them to take ranks with Roxas's Samurais – if they'll help too."

The Orcus moaned again – probably because it was the only sound it could make – then the Samurai translated. _"It does not trust that you will not abuse the command over them as he would."_

"Understandable, with me questionable control over my darkness at the moment. How about a compromise – you'd take my side like Riku suggested, wouldn't you?"

_"If it were possible to,"_ the Samurai agreed.

"Then what if I commanded them to answer to you – making you the generals of the Heartless forces, so to speak."

While the Samurai conversed with the Orcus again, Riku leaned over and murmured to me, "I hope you're certain the Samurai's won't turn on us if you give them this command."

"They're loyal to Roxas," I whispered back. "He gave them orders not to answer to anyone except him, later extending that to me. They won't violate that."

_"Your terms are acceptable,"_ it told us. _"They will assist on the same terms as we have. If we can be there to assist, they will be there too. If we cannot, then they will not."_

"And if I end up holding the X-blade?"

"It's only Neku that's afraid of it," Riku reminded me.

"It has an even worse effect on the Heartless – and Nobodies too."

_"We regret that we cannot be present regardless of who holds that weapon. We have seen the effect it can have once before; we deem it unsafe to be in a position to see it a second time."_

"I understand that. I had to ask, just to find out. I'll accept what the Heartless here want on those terms."

Both the Orcus and Samurai gave a nod, then vanished.

"That's got to be a first," Riku remarked. "Heartless, Nobodies and Somebodies all on the same time. I don't think even Roxas considered stealing the Heartless."

"That's the nice thing about it," I grinned at him, leading him back into the room. "My Heartless is under Charlie's influence, and here in this area that influence doesn't work. If I'm right, that means he has no idea what I've done, and everything I come up with that he doesn't know about is one more thing I can turn on him when the time comes."

"You know something? Mickey was right. You're a sneaky, devious, manipulative scoundrel. You just get away with it because of your ethics."

"Isn't it great?" I laughed.

* * *

><p>Data-Sora took the news of what we'd done similarly when he next stirred, but otherwise there was no real change for some time until at last Neku broke out of the trance he'd appeared to be in to inform us that it was done.<p>

He transferred us all to the path leading up to the castle itself, letting us know there'd be a few minor changes to accommodate the differences between the real visit and this one, then disappeared on us.

For some reason, the sight of Castle Oblivion didn't seem as foreboding as it had done the first time round. There was, of course, no real difference to it's appearance. It was still a massive castle seemingly floating in the empty air, connected only by the long jutting rock that led up to the massive front doors. Huge stalactites hung down from underneath it, but their size was dwarfed by the extent of the castle's basements stretching far below.

"I'll be leaving you here," I told Riku and Data-Sora as we headed up along that crag. "You'll be heading from the ground up to the thirteenth floor, and I'll be starting from the lowest basement reaching for the ground floor."

"Watch out for the Organization," Riku warned, then after a flat look mumbled, "Sorry. I guess I forgot who I'm dealing with."

"That's alright Riku," I grinned at him. "I still love you anyway."

"Just how are you going to get all the way down there?" Data-Sora asked with a faintly sceptical tone. "Sprout wings and fly? You can't use your glider without your actual Keyblade, not that one you've been left with."

"Neku made arrangements," I shrugged. You two should go on in. I'll wait for you to get started before I begin."

"Arrangements?" Neku's voice asked as they headed up to the doors. "I don't recall that. I was going to ask you how you wanted to handle it."

"I wanted a word with you anyway. Did you figure out how to release Mickey and the others from this?" I asked, holding up the Keyblade of People's Hearts as if it show him.

"Sort of," he replied evasively. "I'm still working on it. I could do with talking with Ansem the Wise actually," he admitted. "I can retrieve the body of each of them, even the mind, but the heart is what's giving me trouble. Don't worry about it Liam," he went on as the air blurred grey around me, then to the decorated whites of the white room at the lowest point of Castle Oblivion. Neku had appeared beside me. "I had to make changes, but you already knew that. I think I've managed to force your Heartless to fill in for Ansem, and-" he broke off. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You're bleeding," I told him. "A nosebleed, and if the dark stain growing on your shirt is any indication, your nose isn't the only place you're bleeding from."

Neku looked startled, raising the back of his hand to his nose then staring at the blood on it.

"This is impossible," he breathed. "I don't bleed – _can't_ bleed! This is just an avatar, it's not a living being!"

"Unless something's happened to your book. You told me once if anything happened to your book it would be reflected on you... your avatar."

Neku almost scrambled to take his book out of the pouch it was stored in, flicking through the pages rapidly when he saw the covers were undamaged.

"Nothing!" he burst out, clearly upset.

"Nothing there?"

"No, nothing to show why this is happening! This is completely impossible," he repeated. "I can't get hurt, I can't bleed and I can't..." he paused for a moment to poke at the stain on his shirt, winced and finished, "Feel pain either... what is going on here?"

"Maybe you ought to disappear until you can figure that out?" I suggested, taking his book off him again.

"I can't, Liam. I already tried something similar. Trying to change the appearance of an avatar is the same as removing it and creating a new one, and I can't even do that."

"Don't take this the wrong way," I warned him, then dropped the Keyblade and put my hand under his shirt to find the actual wound, which felt like a short and wet bloody scar, then murmured, "Heal," willing the magic to take effect as I ignored Neku wince at my touch.

"Nothing," he reported. "And believe me I'd be able to tell even without looking."

"Maybe it's because I'm directing the spell in the wrong place," I mused, withdrawing my hand. Neku glanced briefly at it as I did so, causing the strangely blue blood to vanish from it. "Maybe because the real you is the book..." I trailed off, glancing to his book in my other hand and repeated my invocation of the healing magic.

He didn't change expression at first, just watching me looking afraid, then after a moment that was probably a lot shorter than it seemed he sighed with relief.

"It worked," he breathed. "Or at least it's working... much slower than magic usually works, probably because of what I am... it's meant for use on other people, not books. I still can't disappear though, not yet."

"Well come with me old friend. At least then I'll be able to give you another shot of magic if you need it."


	22. Oblivion's Rule

Castle Oblivion held a few new tricks this time, one of which became immediately apparent. Where in my original visit I'd dreadfully abused the way the entire castle works, in this data version it did not respond the same way. Trying to do anything that way just wasn't going to work.

This also meant that when I tried to open the door to the first floor, it remained locked.

"Oh. Right," Neku said, handing me a card. "I was going to tell you but we got a bit sidetracked."

"Tell me these are the only cards I have to put up with." I said, glancing over the card. It had no words on it, but it looked like it was showing Deep Jungle.

"There might be a few times other cards show up," he explained very quickly. "But you won't have to rely on them except at certain times."

"Certain times?"

Neku shifted uneasily, "Between the floors. Whenever your Heartless shows up. I had to do _something_ to put limits on him, and I couldn't do anything like that to him without also doing the same to you. I didn't want you getting ahead of yourself and trying to get your hands on that infernal blade too soon."

"You and I are going to have a long talk about this when we get out of here," I told him, then held up the card to the door, which obligingly opened to fill my nose with the familiar scents of the jungle, even the sounds of the birds and other wildlife. "Why don't you tell me what I'm doing here again?"

"Because I can't help you and not him," Neku replied. "I had to do some fairly elaborate..." he broke off and shook his head again. "You really need to learn a better language, Lee. I just can't explain it properly."

"Doesn't standing around here with me count as helping?" I asked, brushing aside the tall undergrowth to try and find somewhere more familiar.

"I don't know. I wasn't even going to show myself at all, to you or the others, but that's all out the window now."

One of the various monkey Heartless of the region lunged suddenly out of the bush at me, sent flying back in with a blast of air magic I used almost instinctively. It didn't release a heart, but a single red card.

"I thought you said-"

"I told you I had to do something!" Neku interrupted. "I did what I could, but it was bad enough trying to force your Heartless to do what I wanted, let alone get the entire castle to work right."

"Someone's going to hear about this," I muttered. "Or they would if there was anyone."

"Just don't complain to me, or I'll turn you into a toad."

"The way this jungle is fighting back, that might actually be an improvement." I paused, then thought about that and started, "Couldn't you-"

"No, because I'd have to do something to him as well," he replied wearily. "Will you please remember that?"

"I'm just too used to pestering you whenever these things come up, I guess. Good thing you don't mind."

"Sometimes I wonder," Neku muttered. I chose not to reply to that.

The plant life made it hard to get around without having to fight it, and it provided a perfect means for the various Heartless to ambush me. Curiously, they seemed more intent on going for Neku than they did me, but he was hardly defenceless even if he was stuck with me. The various effects he'd first used in Olympus Coliseum still held, allowing him to borrow Mickey's Keyblade and even put out a few bits of magic.

The Heartless all dropped more cards, not just red ones but the blue and green ones too, each one with one of several designs on. I know enough about the real Castle Oblivion to know that somewhere in here there would be a door to another room, and which card I used on it would decide what was on the other side.

I finally found a wall by walking into it, since the walls blended in perfectly with the real jungle around. It was as if someone had painted a picture of a jungle that was animated, even moving in relation to me. A spindly branched tree went over the threshold between room and door, and pulling down on the branch on the room side made the branch on the other side move in response.

"No requirements on the doors?" I asked Neku when I finally found one.

"It was easier that way. I also removed the ranks on the door cards, since they didn't really have any point once I'd removed the requirements, and you won't find any of the yellow cards either – the events of each floor will happen when you reach certain rooms."

"Neku, I could end up going around in circles here," I protested, holding up a red card. Don't ask me which one, I used so many I really couldn't tell you. "The layouts of these floors often go round in circles, and you know I have no sense of direction."

"Solved that one for you too. There'll only be one route through each floor. Except where it needs to be otherwise, but I tried to avoid that."

"Great. I'm going to be getting lost without much choice again."

Actually it wasn't that hard. The walls, although hard to see, were definitely solid. I kept the wall to my left, keeping one hand on it so I couldn't lose it and keeping ready to swing the Keyblade in my other hand. Neku stayed behind me, keeping a wary eye out behind after one Sniper Wild Heartless shot him in the back of the head, also collecting the cards left behind.

Three rooms later I used a blue card which, thankfully, turned out to be Moment's Reprieve. Not a save point as it usually is, but a room in which the jungle was absent entirely except outside the walls and door opposite.

It also held two things it probably shouldn't have held. A single, long, stone-tipped spear, stuck into the ground with the tip in the air, and beside it a long barrelled hunting rifle.

"Nothing to do with me," Neku said after a quizzical look. "I set the castle to give you worlds and plots that would do you good, but the specifics were up to it."

"You delegated it to the castle itself?"

"It made things work the way I wanted," he shrugged. "Saved me the effort, and let me focus it where it was needed."

"And what if I hadn't picked that card for the room, I wonder?" I mused to myself. "Lets leave them here and move on."

"Something has to happen here still," Neku held me back. "I can't tell what."

"This is a Moment's Reprieve – nothing happens here."

"You're forgetting, this is Castle Oblivion. It's using your memories, but it still holds power. Anything could happen."

I ignored that and went for the door anyway. It took a card like any other, but still refused to open, so instead I returned to the two items left behind. Undoubtedly they belonged to Tarzan and Clayton respectively.

There was the odd impression that something was expected of me, as if the Castle was asking me to choose one of them. What would happen if I chose the rifle over the spear? Or the spear over the rifle? A choice between light and dark, signified by a friend and an enemy?

"Really Liam, it's not like you to be so indecisive." It was Anti-Liam. Somehow he'd appeared leaning against one wall without being noticed, looking for all the world as if he'd been there all along. "Nice try, by the way," he added, nodding to Neku. "You might have limited what Charlie boy can do, but we're working on it. I have to compliment you on a very complex scheme here though."

"His idea," Neku murmured.

"Figures. You've even managed to hide what he's up to from me. It's probably no surprise that I'm impressed – Lee would be. You bothered Charlie just a little bit though. Last time I saw him he was actually frothing at the mouth. Makes him seem almost human."

"You mean Charlie wasn't always psychotically deranged?" I asked lightly. "I'm amazed."

He actually laughed at that, then finally got off the wall and came over to join me. "I know what you're up to, you know. You, Charlie and Xehanort. So I'll let you in on this. When you started it was only Charlie you had to worry about. He's the reason I got brought into this, but he lost power over me when your book moved his influence to me back in Olympus Coliseum. Then in Agrabah he pulled in Xehanort, but Xehanort has his own agenda. He managed to escape Charlie's control and stole his book from Goofy."

"What?" Neku exclaimed. "Xehanort has my brother's book?"

"Hush! Not so loud – Charlie doesn't know it yet. He's not used to having to pay attention to his book as far as I can tell. He's busy focusing on you two."

"I'll keep it in mind," I told him cautiously, not entirely sure if I could trust what he was saying. "But what about you? Is this some attempt to make peace?"

"Get real," he snorted. "I didn't think you'd need to ask that. I just thought you should know about it." He paused, glanced at the two weapons, then added, "Spear," and vanished again.

"What did he mean by that?" Neku asked.

"It's his choice. Or at least, what he'd have chosen if he were in my place." After a moment to think I took the spear in my free hand. "It's also my choice... but I guess it's hardly surprising he knows what I'd pick."

The rifle that had remained started to growl, a low, grating growl that I recognised even as I stepped away from the rifle. The rifle shimmered, spreading outward then solidifying into the tiger, Sabor. One of the few enemies I had faced with great reluctance. If you don't remember why, read back to the original story and encounters with him.

But Sabor, like the Heartless, seemed less interested in me than he was in Neku, who backed away from him as he brushed past me. It seemed a little odd that a book with the power to change reality was afraid of a simple tiger, but I know what I saw. Maybe he was concerned his avatar might still be vulnerable.

I didn't like having to fight him again, but I wasn't going to take the chance and let Sabor harm Neku. He had passed by me to reach him and completely ignored me, so I simply threw the spear at him.

I'll admit, right here, I have a very bad aim when it comes to... well, throwing anything. I just don't have the coordination for it. Magic aims itself, but for the most part I know this weakness and it's the main reason why I've only rarely been afraid to get stuck in with my Keyblade and batter away.

On this occasion though, I surprised even myself. Tarzan's spear struck true, Sabor stiffening as it jabbed into his back. With a roar that almost seemed to knock Neku to the ground, though more from surprise than any force, Sabor whipped around ignoring the spear in his back and turned on me.

I decided I wasn't having any of this, drawing on magic as I closed my free hand. The muddy earthen floor the castle had provided buckled around Sabor with a low grumble, then answered my call and rose up around Sabor.

Sabor vaulted over the cracked ground around him, only to find it had followed him when he landed. The earth continued to listen to the magic, the crack now forming up into an earthen wall encircling him. The spear was snapped off as it arced up and over into a dome, and holes started to appear in the dome as Sabor lashed out at it, trying to break out. The earth simply flowed back into the holes to repair itself though.

Then I let my raised, still closed hand drop. The earth shot back into the ground and took both the spear and Sabor with it.

No, it wasn't nice. But it was a memory only, and I didn't feel like fighting an opponent that I hadn't been keen on fighting before.


	23. Battle Command

**A/N: **Yup, early update. Some more free time than usual has reached these parts. I might manage a second update today, it depends on how much of my attention Minecraft manages to steal. Again.

Curse you, addictive blocky game.

* * *

><p>Castle Oblivion's plot here, if it could be called that, had so far been little more than troublesome. The continued curiosity of the Heartless going for Neku before they did me was an ongoing mystery that confounded even him, as he reported that even his own power had somehow been curtailed.<p>

But we pushed on. The Heartless began to drop less map cards now I noticed, forcing me to either consider those I did have when at a door, or go out of my way to eliminate more Heartless for more cards.

In the end we managed to slog through enough jungle and doors to finally reach the end of the first basement, certain in the knowledge that there shouldn't have been this many rooms. Before we were allowed to exit the floor for the next white room though, another familiar face barred our path.

Deep Jungle's resident boss Heartless, the Stealth Sneak. Complete with the irritation that was Clayton on the back, though curiously Clayton now had the signature amber eyes of one steeped in the darkness.

"Tell me you're coming up with a plan for this," Neku murmured to me, keeping behind me while the duo ahead regarded us.

"I'm working on it. I think we can assume they're not attacking because of me, the same way the Guard Armour did back in Traverse Town's data."

"And that they'll probably turn on me when we attack, just like all the Heartless of the Castle have been doing," he added.

"Right. What we need is a distraction. Something that won't give us away as the key combatants."

"The Heartless themselves?" Neku suggested. "I talked with the Samurais when I was working on things, the Heartless working for us can summoned into the castle by their cards here, and the Samurais will all be given a selection of those cards if they appear here."

"Would that work? If I gave attack orders to the Samurais... would those two focus on the Samurais with the cards, or on me because of the orders?"

"One way to find out."

"I thought you knew what was going on here?"

"Give me a break, I'm stuck forced to use this avatar, and I can't reach out to anyone or anything else. It's as if I've been made human. Not that it's a bad thing," he quickly added.

I just grunted in response, then framed a thought to send to the Samurais.

_"I need you!"_ I called out mentally. _"Bring some of those Heartless cards Neku told me about. You're going to have to use them to fight this battle for me."_

_"We hear you," _the response came. _"Abide a moment while we locate you."_

"They're coming," I reported. "I might get involved if I have to, so be ready to protect yourself."

"Don't you want a hand?"

"Not while they're still going for you. I'd rather know you're safe than have to heal you again. You drained my entire reserve of magic for that, you know."

"I had no idea. Mind you, I'm not meant to _need_ healing."

Several Samurais appeared between us and the Heartless. In place of their swords, each one held a small stack of thick, black cards in one hand.

_"Your orders?" _they inquired.

I considered the situation for a moment, recalling the original battle with these two, then formulated a battle plan for them. "You want to separate the two of them if you can," I told them. "Clayton on his own is no match for a skilled swordsman, and I don't doubt all of you qualify there. Beware of the darkness he seems to have though. Also try Thunder attacks when he's aboard the Stealth Sneak; they'll hit both of them," I advised. "Other than that, try not to let us get hit and just do your best against them."

_"Understood."_

Each of the Samurais flicked through their cards, reordering them to suit those orders. Periodically, one of them would cock their head as if listening or glance to another Samurai, and rearrange them again in some coordination with each other.

Then they all flicked out the first cards, calling up three Bandits, a Commander, two Darkballs and a flock of Yellow Operas. The latter two groups soared up into the air, while the Commander led the Bandits toward the Stealth Sneak. Clayton tore his eyes from us to observe this, then started shooting at our Heartless.

The Operas responded to this, swooping down just low enough to call a jolt of Thunder on Clayton right before he fired, the sudden shock causing his body to spasm and fire the shot at unoffending trees, peppering those nearby with splinters.

The Bandits with their curved blades started to hack away at the Stealth Sneak's scaly hide, while the Commander slashed away indiscriminately at the head. The Stealth Sneak reacted by whipping its tail around at the Bandits on one side, but the Samurais reacted swiftly barking out inaudible commands that caused the Bandits to drop to the ground, allowing the tail to pass harmlessly over them.

It then went after the Commander with its forelegs, clapping them together on the Commander's helmet. It stumbled back a bit, head apparently ringing, but refused to give in until the Stealth Sneak used its tongue to flick off the helmet. This time the clap destroyed it, and the summoning Samurai replaced it with a Defender, which resumed the attack, albeit slowly.

Clayton began to realize where the real threat to him lay, starting to take shots at the Yellow Operas above him, flitting about like a flock of migrating bats. Then the Darkballs came into play, having hung back out of sight away from the Operas. One darted at him from the side slamming into him, while the other rammed into his back only moments later. Clayton was thrown off the Stealth Sneak not far from the Bandits, which immediately turned about and fell on him, the Defender preventing the Stealth Sneak from interfering.

As predicted, Clayton was next to useless against even the merely competent Bandits, but he didn't show any sign of fear or anger. He even seemed to shrug off the attacks that did hit him, flinching back only slightly as he backed away, trying to get a clear shot. He shoved one Bandit aside and took aim.

"Look out!" I called quickly to one Samurai, hoping the right one would hear. There was the sound of Clayton firing just as the Samurai ducked, saving it from harm. It didn't care much for what Clayton had tried to do however, drawing one of the two ever-present swords an going after him personally.

The Stealth Sneak was having only marginally better luck. The Defender's heavy shield protected it from most attacks, and its massive fist was clearly far more effective than the Commander's claws had been, frequently sending it reeling back. It was supplemented by the Yellow Operas continuing their hit-and-run Thunder strikes, while the Darkballs were high above and waiting again.

"Get them down," I commanded. "If it starts using the beam attacks, they'll go right past the Defender!"

Two of the Samurais acknowledged, bringing the Darkballs down to flit around on either side, held back from their usual behaviour by the Samurai's own command over them. Not a moment too soon, as the Stealth Sneak attempted to do just that.

The light destroyed both Darkballs however, weakening the beams considerably. The Bandits were harmed but not also destroyed. Their flinching back from the attack gave Clayton the opportunity to evade the Samurai and leap back onto the Stealth Sneak, which shattered the wall behind and turned invisible.

The Darkballs were replaced with a pair of Wizard Heartless, who stole a trick from what I knew of Roxas's story, as he had yet to finish it while this was going on. They waited until it showed itself due to the attacks of the Yellow Operas then froze the tail in a pillar of ice, pinning it to the spot.

The Bandits were dismissed then, replaced with Air Soldiers. They followed the same kind of tactics as the Yellow Operas but always came at Clayton from a different direction and focused more on ramming into the Stealth Sneak itself.

_"We cannot finish it!" _One of the Samurais told me. _"Only a Keyblade can put an end this!"_

"That's my cue," I said, then weaved between the Heartless and Samurais, scrambled up the back of the startled Defender to jump off it and land on the Stealth Sneak's head. One side strike knocked the surprised Clayton off its back again, followed up by stabbing the Keyblade of People's Hearts into the head of the Heartless itself.

It stiffened underneath me, seemed to expand a little, shrink back, and then finally explode into nothingness along with Clayton, dropping a single black card to the ground. The various summoned Heartless were all dismissed as all but one of the Samurais departed.

"Have you ever commanded troops, Liam?" Neku wondered idly as I picked up the card.

"Something a little like it," I answered absently. I knew black cards were enemy, or at least Heartless cards, but I had thought they were only ever dropped by the Heartless they belonged to – or obtained from one of the reward rooms that, obviously, wouldn't appear in this Castle Oblivion.

This one was clearly different however. Well, not different as such – it was still a normal black card – but it wasn't Clayton on it, or the Stealth Sneak, or even a Heartless.

It was Roxas. Still wearing the coat, but undeniably him.

_"We have a question, Commander,"_ the Samurai asked.

"I'm not your Commander," I replied absently. "Roxas just told you to listen to me as well."

_"Did you not command us as if you were him?"_ it argued. _"Was it not your command that led us to victory? You are our Commander as much as he is."_

"If that's the way you see it," I shrugged. "What's your question?"

_"We are curious what reason Castle Oblivion chose for giving you these opponents here. We have surmised that as you are confronting your darkness as Riku did, they must in some way hold relation to it, but are unable to ascertain why."_

"Sabor I can answer," Neku replied. "It wasn't so much the darkness as it was his reluctance to hurt him. He's got a bit of a soft spot for the big cat families."

"No one's perfect," I replied. "These two... I'm not sure. The Heartless may just have been here because Clayton alone wouldn't have been much of a problem."

"You think it might something to do with him?"

"I'm still working my way around this, but I think so. This world... this was possibly the first place I lost my temper with someone. I recall I actually punched Clayton at one point, and I'm not the kind of person who does that casually."

"Says the guy who'll beat up enemies with a Keyblade and no second thought."

"That's different. I don't do that without reason anyway. Give me time to think on this. I'll figure it out sooner or later."

The Samurai accepted that and followed the others, crackling as it disappeared again. With its departure, a door appeared in the far wall that showed the second white room. Just inside I spotted two figures: Xehanort and Anti-Liam. Xehanort appeared to glance up as the doors opened and then chose to disappear into a corridor, Anti-Liam merely took up a position opposite the door to bar my path. I had to go through him to get the next world card anyway.


	24. Learning Lessons

Anti-Liam's change of appearance had begun to spread further than just his Keyblade, something that was more evident now than it had been before. While before he had appeared just to be a Heartless that had the same shape as me, now features were becoming more and more human. The eyes were still nothing more than the glowing yellow of all Heartless, but now in the clear while light of the second white room, there was no mistaking that he was definitely different.

The skin – what was visible of it, at least – was more appropriately coloured, for one thing. Still darkened, but starting to take on a proper colouring. The clothing was no longer just a very dark version of what I wore, but more closely resembled the original outfit – the one that Data-Sora had been seen in, and that returned to me with Limit form.

But otherwise, he was still the same – for now. A mass of black hair that seemed to stream back, flicking around as if it had once belonged to Medusa, giving it a life of its own. The same almost clawed hands, like those seen on a Novashadow.

"You know, Xehanort thinks I should just go all out now," he told me without preamble as the door closed behind us. "I'm intrigued though. There's a lot of similarities between what you're doing and what Riku did here."

"That's why I chose to do things this way. What works for him should work the same for me."

"Emphasis on 'should'. You do realize I'm not just going to let you."

"Funnily enough, I'm sure Ansem had the same sentiment about Riku. It didn't seem to make much different to Riku though."

"There's a lot of difference between me and Ansem. I'm more powerful, for one thing."

"Really? You don't seem to have done a good job of showing it so far. Maybe my darkness just isn't as troublesome as I thought it was."

"Nice try," he laughed. "You know that's not true." Then he turned to Neku and some of his apparent humour dropped away. All he said was, "Well?"

Neku stared him down for a while, but eventually gave in, turning away and stalking to one corner of the room muttering in a language I didn't understand.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," Anti-Liam replied with false innocence. "I just happened across something that he's not happy about. When he shifted all those influences to me, he lost a bit of control over me, you see. Part Charlie's and part his, neither of them have much hold on me. Much like you – remember Olympus Coliseum?"

"Neku removed that from me."

"And gave it to me, and I'm a part of you. Some of what affects me also hits you. The two books are having a bit of a disagreement over us, but they can't bring their power to bear on each other or they'll destroy themselves."

"There's no need for that anyway," I shrugged. "Once I've dealt with you, I'm free to handle Charlie."

"Only if I let you," Neku told me, once again with a strangely haunted look in his eyes.

"Interesting reaction," Anti-Liam noted. "Shame I can't just pick things up from you, or I'd know why."

Neku looked at him sharply, suddenly looking very suspicious. "You should know that. There was nothing preventing you when we were discussing that. Unless you don't get as much as you claim you do."

"My attention must have been somewhere else. Maybe you can tell me when, and I'll tell you what I was doing?"

"And no doubt get the memories of that time from me," I said. "I don't think we want to do that."

"You're forgetting one thing, old boy," he told me urbanely. "With everything you two concocted about this place, you're completely hidden from me. I can see and hear you, of course, but only if I'm in the same room as you. Anywhere else and it's as if you don't exist." He paused, then added, "It's quite refreshing actually. I have to actually work to figure things out now."

"Just before Hollow Bastion," I told him shortly, not wanting to give him too much unless he hadn't been entirely truthful. Sometimes I've been known to appear to tell the truth and instead been lying through my teeth. It's not hard once you get the hang of it, you just have to be able to sound perfectly natural and suppress the natural surge of nerves – or whatever you want to call it – that always happens.

No, I'm not explaining why I had reason to do that. It's got nothing to do with the story.

Anti-Liam thought for a few moments, then finally answered, "I think I know why. I was busy making plans with Xehanort at the time. Trying to corrupt Data-Sora, as I recall. Oh yes – that should still be taking effect upstairs. I think I'll have to pay a call on him and see how that's turning out."

"You have to go through me first," I told him.

"Be realistic Liam, you know this isn't the time for that."

I glanced to Neku, hoping he could tell what I was thinking. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't, I've never usually tried to rely on it. This time he did, and I quite suddenly I knew how to work with the cards of the Castle.

I shook the hand holding the Keyblade of People's Hearts, which flashed once and turned into a deck of red and blue cards – with the one black card I also had. Conveniently, there was a blue magic card on the top of the deck, so I picked it out and flicked it toward him.

Along the way it changed from a card to a fireball, which ignored the attempt he made to smash it aside with his Keyblade. When the fireball burnt out on impact, he was left smoking up against a blackened bit of wall, rapidly returning to the normal white.

"That won't work here," Neku told him with a nasty grin. "You have to use the cards."

Anti-Liam stared at me in disbelief, "But you hate the cards!"

"I did say that, didn't I?" I agreed pleasantly. "Now, do you want to play some more, or did you want to run away until you figure out how to use the cards yourself?"

He didn't bother to answer that, just mimicking what I'd done to retrieve his own deck of cards. There were a lot more blue cards in his deck than mine held, and naturally no black one either. Only I held the card for Roxas, which I was curious to see the effects of, just not so much so that I made it a priority.

Despite my disliking for them, the cards here were possibly the only thing that saved me. He probably hadn't bothered to pick up anything about them, and now we were here he couldn't take anything more from me. He was entirely on his own now, forced to adapt on the go just like anyone else.

After a few moments where he tried to figure out how to use the red card he took, he finally got it right, holding it so that as he swung the arm, his version of Gilded Light flashed into his hand.

_"Four,"_ the familiar voice of the Samurais sounded mentally. It took me a few moments to figure out what they meant until I glanced quickly to my next card, a red attack card of my own – which by another now suspicious coincidence happened to have the number six on it.

He swung the summoned Keyblade at me, but I used mine as he started his attack. It broke his card, disarming him and leaving him open for me to make a single attack with my own Keyblade, which disappeared afterwards. Each card was only good for one attack.

The fight progressed along similar lines. Anti-Liam was still trying to learn the system, while I was able to exploit my knowledge of it outrageously along with the aid the Samurais were giving me, telling me the ranks of his cards without even having to be present. I selected cards almost exclusively to break his ones until I had only one card left – the Roxas card. He too had no cards left and was looking decidedly helpless.

I merely focused for a moment, willing the cards to return as Marluxia tells Sora to do, and within moments I held a full deck again. He was bright enough to realize when he was outmatched, so without a word he turned tail and fled into a dark corridor, leaving behind four world cards.

"For someone who doesn't like the cards, you're not all that bad with them," Neku observed.

"I was gambling," I admitted. "I know the basics of the system, but strategy never was my thing. I make it up as I go along for the most part. Having to build a deck of cards..."

"Don't worry about that. I stole an idea from Riku's story. Your deck makes itself for you. Just be careful if you get a green card – it isn't an item card, not here, but it is one that uses your darkness."

"I can choose not to use them," I pointed out, scooping up the cards Anti-Liam had left behind. Atlantica, Neverland, Hollow Bastion and curiously a card for the Destiny Islands that seemed strangely darkened.

"Just be careful," Neku warned me. "I can guess what you're going to be like once he's figured out the cards. You'll be under pressure more often then, and you won't be paying as much attention to your deck."

I knew he was right, and more irritatingly, I knew there was nothing I could do about it. I'd shown Anti-Liam the basics of the cards, and from that I had a fair idea that next time he wouldn't be so inept with them. It was a one-time edge I had over him that I couldn't exploit twice, one that perhaps I should have saved.

But with that done it was time to move on. Neku and I are alike in one way, we don't fill up conversation with small talk. I've never been much good at it, so once we've said what we need to, there isn't much more to say.

The door to the next floor didn't respond immediately to me when I held up a world card to it, having chosen Hollow Bastion because I wanted to get past it and the time I was a Heartless yet again. I even pushed at the door in case it was the door not opening on its own the way the last one had.

"Neku?" I murmured.

"Wrong card," he replied. "Don't ask me which one. Castle Oblivion knows which one, and it won't let you pick anyone but that one."

"If I have to put up with that when I go to wake up Ven, I'm going to have some serious words with the castle so it understands how irritating that is."

"It's an inanimate object, Liam. It can't hear you."

"So?" I answered, trying Destiny Islands. No response. I sighed, having some idea of what the right card was, and what the right ones would be afterwards. Sure enough, Atlantica opened the doorway into an underwater setting, the water held back to create an off-blue wall. The Castle, if I had it right, wanted me to go through these worlds in the same order I'd picked the cards up.

As I passed through that wall I felt my clothes disappear as I gained the brightly silver scaled tail replace my legs, the innate magic instilled into the form allowing me to breath normally in the water.

Neku hadn't passed through after me though. He stood there looking oddly afraid.

"What's up? You have got a water form, haven't you?" I asked Neku.

"I... think I can still give myself one, but..." he paused, looked at me easily floating in the water and shook his head. "I can't swim. I've never learned. I've never needed to learn – I'm a book, not a fish."

"You'll pick it up easily. Just give yourself a form with a tail like mine, and I'll teach you."

"Being human like this isn't as easy as I thought it'd be," he complained, concentrating for a moment. Probably to see to the alternate form he'd gain. "I preferred it when this was an actual avatar, and not actually human. How do you put up with all the demands it makes of you?"

"I grew up used to it, so I couldn't really say. Going to come through, or should I just swim here all day?"

"Don't rush me. Just think of what you were like when you first went there."

"Don't remind me," I replied with a shudder. "I still haven't entirely gotten over it. At least in here there's a definite ceiling."

"Does that really help you?"

"It makes me feel better. It's a dreadful feeling I get when I can see the water's surface above my head."

Neku reached across the boundary to take hold of my hand, then he crossed over and experienced a similar change to my own. Unlike me, the tail he got was a brilliant blue, but otherwise there was no real difference between us.

I had to flick my tail some more to keep us both buoyant until he got the hang of using his own tail to stay afloat, then when he felt safe he slowly relinquished his hold on me.

"See?" I said. "Not nearly as hard as it looks, is it?"

"This is just keeping still in the water, swimming is a completely different story."

"Don't worry about it. It's like riding a bike – you never forget."

He gave me a look and said, "You don't know how to ride a bike though."

True, in case you're wondering. No sense of balance. I can go in a straight line, just don't ask me to turn a corner.

"I didn't mean swimming itself is like it, it's just not something you can forget."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?" he muttered to no one in particular.


	25. Flowing Ahead

Ordinarily, the first room of each floor is free of Heartless. As we'd already discovered from the previous floor though, that wasn't the case here. Several of the Atlantica native Heartless showed up within moments of our swimming further into the room, as usual aiming for Neku instead of me.

I'd had some experience in swimming and fighting from the original trip to Atlantica, so it comes as no surprise I didn't have all that much trouble. I was just a little rusty.

Neku on the other hand was at best, awkward. Quite aside from his inability to swim properly still, he suffered from the same problem I once had – momentum. More than once I had to come to his aid because he'd gone too far and left himself open.

He also tended to forget there was another dimension of movement underwater, even if it was somewhat limited by the room's ceiling. This was much less of an issue, but I definitely spotted times where he could have done better taking advantage of it.

Finally I solved most of the problem, albeit reluctantly – this was underwater, after all – with a Thunder spell set to chain through each Heartless in turn. It was an interesting result, and best of all each of the new chains aimed themselves. Neku and I just had to watch as it darted around us to pick off the Heartless, even the last few that tried to reinforce the falling ranks.

"Why am I doing this?" Neku complained. "I can't swim and I can't even fight properly like this."

"No one's perfect. At least now we've emptied the room we've got a safe place to practice."

"Do we really have to? Honestly, I want to go back out again and just wait it out."

"And what if the Heartless – or the various Organization members here – find you?"

"That's hateful, Liam! You know I can't argue with that."

"You're going to be a terrible companion if you're going to complain the whole time," I told him, ignoring his outburst. "Bad things happen, that's the way life is. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself so we can get on with this." Then after a moment I added, "And tell me how I'm meant to get the room cards I left in the pockets. I forgot I don't have any here."

"Figure it out for yourself," he told me petulantly. "Besides, there's more than enough cards in here from all that. Just use them."

Neku would probably have something to say about it if he knew I'd said this, but I suspect that he and Charlie – and probably all his relatives – are alike in one way. In having the power they've got, they're a lot like spoiled children, able to get whatever they want. I don't think any of them have ever grown up. Charlie certainly never gave that impression, and Neku's childish temper at this point suggested a similar idea.

Sorry Neku, but it's true.

Anyway, despite his bad mood he did watch while I picked up the cards, probably so he could work on his own swimming. I caught him watching at one point, and he tried to pretend he hadn't been watching.

See what I mean about childish? It's just the sort of thing they'd do.

Thanks to his earlier work there was still only one route through the floor, though after we got slightly disoriented in the second room he arranged for the doors to look different if they were the one we'd entered by.

He still fought with the Mickey's Keyblade though, and unlike Olympus Coliseum he didn't seem to want to use magic at all. I'll admit I tend to use magic, and by extension the darkness, as a support measure rather than the main force of my assaults usually, but either he was taking that to extremes or he didn't have it.

After one particularly troublesome room I created another Moment's Reprieve room so we'd have a safe haven for a few time – despite what had happened in the previous one. This one was free of any unexpected extras though, bearing striking resemblance to Ariel's cavern, just spread out over a larger area.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. "Besides your mood, I mean."

He glared at me for a moment, then looked himself over. "Looks like I'm more or less in one piece. I ache in places I didn't even think I had, but I'm not hurt."

"Why don't you use magic? You did back in the Coliseum."

Neku's expression changed from irritated to embarrassed. "I kinda cheated," he admitted. "I know I agreed not to change things, but you know you're powerful on your own – even Terra admitted that, remember. I didn't feel like going up against you in a purely physical struggle, and I knew you'd resort to magic and the like."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, old friend," I laughed. "Given what was going on, I don't blame you. It's the sort of thing my Heartless would do."

"And you?"

"Not me. I don't break promises – at least not without reason. He might, but I wouldn't. Now there's a thought," I added as I realized something – partly unrelated – then found an issue with it and said, "Oops. Didn't think of that."

"Did you bang your head somewhere back there?" Neku asked me suspiciously. "There's a word for people who talk to themselves."

"Yeah, sensible people. I talk to myself all the time. Even Roxas sometimes while I'm out, if he's awake. I don't really care if people notice, it's nothing to do with them."

"Gonna share your idea, or go off on a tangent again?"

"I'm getting there. My Heartless has never shown up here in Atlantica, and like the cards he probably never thought he would either, so never took anything from me for it, right?"

"I caught a lot of guesses in there, but I suppose it's not unreasonable."

"Right. So what if I did something when I fought him – I'm on about the last one I'll have with him here – that say... I dunno, worked off my link to Demyx or something, modifying normal magic to flood a room and cause me to take on this form. Wouldn't he kind of have trouble with that?"

"I see two problems with that. He's only technically a Heartless, but he does share some of their traits, even if he is starting to look more human. Heartless don't need to breath underwater, so that won't bother him."

"But he won't have a different form," I pointed out. "That'll give me the chance to do all kinds of things to him, because with this form I can swim up and down – something you keep forgetting you can do, by the way."

"Cut me some slack, I'm still getting used to this. Bad enough I got forced into being human, let alone part-fish as well."

"Just a suggestion. What's the other problem?"

"I think it might be the one you said you didn't think of. You used the Samurais and the Heartless through them back there, and you've made enough hints to suggest using them against him."

"That's what I was thinking too. The Heartless you've just told me will be fine, but what about the Samurais?"

_"We will be unaffected by the water,"_ one told us, appearing nearby. _"It would impede us were we directly involved, but it will not prevent us from commanding the Heartless under your control."_

"So you don't need to breath either?"

_"We do,"_ it corrected. _"But we are capable of holding our breath. We will simply take turns, replacing each other when we need to breathe."_

"There's your solution," Neku told me. "The Heartless on your side will have to be rotated with the Samurais, since the cards are locked to each one so no one can steal them from us, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"One more trick in the bag for me to surprise him with. You ought to go on back to... well, wherever you've been staying," I told the Samurai. "Before you run out of breath. Just where have you been staying?" I asked, but it disappeared first.

"Odd," Neku noted. "Roxas isn't keeping things from you, is he?"

"Everyone has their secrets," I shrugged. "You know that. If Roxas doesn't want to trouble me with things like that, what right do I have to go prying? You know what he's like – I doubt he'd ever act against me."

"You've got a point. It just seems strange."

"Lots of things seem strange to you. You've turned down any number of offers I've made to take you on in one game or another."

"Well maybe you should give me the chance to learn to play them first. Besides, how do you know I don't nudge the computer players along a little, to give you more of a challenge?"

"Because you're not good with computers, remember?"

"Sometimes you're so smart I want to hit you," he muttered.

"Mickey had the same sentiment. Which reminds me..." I left it hanging, raising the Keyblade – still the Keyblade of People's Hearts, since my own one refused to respond.

"I'm working on it," he said almost automatically. He bore my look for a moment then sighed, "Alright, so I'm not, but all this has been distracting me. Once we get out of this oversized pond I'll be able to do something about it at the same time. Now lets get a move on. I'm not getting any less human here."


	26. New News is Good News or is it?

The landscape of the floor started to change after we departed the Moment's Reprieve room. Like Deep Jungle, much of it appeared to carry on past the walls into the inaccessible beyond – which often did not take into account whatever was on the other side of the doors, which was disorienting.

But prior to that room they had appeared to show a realm not unlike most of Atlantica in it's first incarnation, rocky valleys and arches, trident symbols on the walls – no open ocean. There was even a white ceiling extending over the top of it. It looked out of place, but at least it kept me from having to confront my own issues again. I suspect the Castle for being responsible for that.

As it changed, the rocks became less and less evident, the trident and other symbols engraved into the rock-walls appeared less often. The rooms _appeared_ to get deeper, though as one Heartless along the way helpfully proved, the floor was still there – it was just much like the walls, unseen.

Neku started to work out some of the issues with his swimming, though I was still left doing most of the work whenever Heartless showed up. We came up with a plan for most kinds of Heartless anyway – he distracted them, and I set up chains of magic that would decimate them before they realized their mistake.

One of them did get him. Just once, he drifted too far after dealing with one Heartless, and a Screwdriver managed to catch him with the spear it carried because I was too distracted by an outbreak of Search Ghosts.

Neku's injury wasn't serious, but he did leave a trail of that still oddly blue blood in the water. On the other hand, it did get him to be more offensive, not just with the borrowed Keyblade either. I strongly suspect it's a good thing I don't understand the language he frequently resorted to.

My irritable temper might have rubbed off on him slightly.

Without his book around here in Atlantica I wasn't able to heal him right away. I didn't have enough magic anyway, since healing him before had taken everything I had.

"It'll be fine," he kept insisting. "It's not like I've lost an arm or something."

"I thought injuries weren't meant to show up over here?" I said, opening the next room. Another empty room, since I hadn't been paying attention to which card I picked. "I never showed any sign of them."

"Probably just as well, given some of your earlier fights. Anyway, I'm not affected by it. I'm not a part of any of this. I made it exist away from the games after those first words you wrote, and I've influenced it too many times since I met you, but it doesn't affect me in return."

"Inconvenient. I don't suppose you can tell how far we are through this floor?"

"Two more rooms," he answered after a moment. "Second one is the boss room."

"Great. Ursula again."

"You didn't exactly do badly against her before, you know."

"You've never seen me try and beat her in the game though." The last room before Ursula opened. Neku went on in, but I held back.

"Something up?" he asked, not yet noticing what I had.

"Look up," I answered.

The white ceiling wasn't there in the room beyond. A view of the water's surface far above was.

"It's not real, Liam. The room's still there."

"You try telling that to my mind," I retorted somewhat tartly.

Neku gave me an odd look, then with a grin told me, "Bad things happen, so stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it. It's not like I can do this without you."

I muttered a few choice words, but had to admit he was right. Sooner or later I was going to have to deal with it.

The room I'd created was from a map card that doesn't show up in the original Chain of Memories – only the later remake. It's called Bottomless Darkness, and ordinarily it appears as a pitch-black room where many Heartless appear, usually in varieties that blend in well.

In Atlantica it had taken the form of a vast open ocean area, the surface visible high above, and the floor lost in the dark depths below. The mass of Heartless still happened though. At least in fighting them, I was able to distract myself from the surface above. You might not have a problem with that, but it definitely unsettles me.

It wasn't Ursula that awaited us on the other side of that seemingly endless room. The door on the other side had been clearly visible of course but somehow the vast emptiness of the room had made it seem further away. It's disorienting.

Waiting for us on a low rock in the room, looking for all the world as if the water around wasn't even there, was Sora. Data-Sora was busy going through the upper floors so I was certain it wasn't him. I strongly doubted it was the real Sora, or Xion for that matter since as you'll recall, the two are twins now. He didn't have the right outfit to be either of them.

"A memory?" I murmured to Neku, pausing at the door. Sora, if it was him, stood on the far side of the rock, which appeared to be some distance away.

"Possibly," Neku replied. "I can feel someone else's touch here though. Charlie might have found a way around me. It's probably very rudimentary and I don't think it'll have been easy for him, but it is possible. Especially with me distracted like this."

"Are you sure it's him?"

"I've told you before there's no way to tell. You're going to have to swim on down there and find out the hard way. Be careful, Liam." I gave him a flat look, and he added, "I know, I know. But look what's happened so far – your darkness is still unstable, you had to borrow some Samurais, take command of the Heartless and have me bully Castle Oblivion into this state."

"I'd feel better knowing a bit more about what I'm going up against. If that _is_ Sora – any version of him – then I don't think anyone else is going to be able to handle him."

"You've got the advantage there – you can swim out of reach."

"This is the point where if Roxas were with me, I'd mention we both have a bad feeling," I muttered, not really intended for anyone there.

Neku had a nice little response for that though.

"Don't break the wall, Liam," he told me. "If you're going to narrate, do it when you write this up."

I didn't answer that, I just headed for the rock Sora was waiting on, watching him was I approached in case he wasn't who he appeared to be.

I can't say there was any reason for my caution though, but I can't really explain without spoiling things.

As I passed over the edge of the rock I abruptly lost my aquatic form and returned to normal, landing face first with the distinct feeling that there was something wrong. Specifically, I wasn't wet.

"About time," Sora said. "I was beginning to think you were going to just chatter away up there."

"Who're you really?" I asked him suspiciously, setting myself knowing I was probably going to have to go through him.

"I thought you weren't one for asking stupid questions. That's what Roxas said last time he dropped in, anyway."

"You can't be Sora. He's still on the Islands."

"I am. I'm also here."

"That's impossible, Sora. You might be a bit dense at times, but even you should know that."

"I knew you'd say something like that. Someday you and I can talk about it, but right now you're gonna go through me to carry on."

"Why bother? You know how it'll end."

"Simple. I'm one of the few people left you haven't gone up against yet. Riku, Mickey I hear too, even Terra – but not me. Isn't it about time we found out which of us makes a better Sora?"

I began to have second thoughts about whether he was really Sora or not, but he knows me well. Not as well as some, but well enough to know I wasn't going to let that kind of challenge pass.

I wasn't certain whether I had to rely on the Castle's cards here or not, but there was one way to find out about that. I opened our little duel by sending him the first spell to mind – what else, Fire.

Magic aims itself, but it doesn't usually take into account Sora's answer to that. I hadn't picked anything too elaborate for my Fire spell, so it wasn't all that large. Sora waited until it was close, ducked underneath it, then ran for me. The fireball naturally arced around and followed him – also heading for me.

Being on the edge of the rock, with suspicions that there would now be a barrier preventing me from leaving again, I wasn't left with anywhere to run. So I fought back instead, Using my Keyblade to force Sora to remain between me and the fireball. He managed to handle that too, by ducking once again when it got close. Being toasted by your own fireball isn't fun, but I stored his trick for later – maybe I could make use of it.

He'd been left nearby after that and I suspect he knew I'd lash out physically after he'd outmanoeuvred me with my own spell, as he called his own Keyblade to hand to hold me off. When I'd left after defeating the Organization, all the various chains except the ones for the Kingdom Key and my own Gilded Light had stayed with him, so it wasn't too surprising his didn't take the form of the Keyblade we all know of. Interestingly, he'd picked the Photon Debugger form here.

Sora was able to hold me off without a problem, putting us at a stalemate. This is not to say we didn't manage anything – more than once I managed to catch him out, or him me, but such times they did happen seldom achieved much.

Until one of us came up with something else, we were going to end up stuck against each other for a long time, so I started pulling out all the various tricks I'd come up with along the way. First was Thunder, not cast directly as he was expecting, but sent into the Keyblade. When mine made contact with his, the charge shot down his Keyblade and gave him a shock that almost made him drop it. A follow up strike aimed for just near to the grip forced him to drop it. Useful thing to note that – you don't actually have to hit your opponent's hands to disarm them.

Sora tried to retreat, but I wasn't having any of that. I started experimenting a little again, combining the recently made Haste with the old favourite of Teleport, which resulted in an attack very similar to Dark Aura. Much safer to use, but it came at a dreadful cost to the magic.

Again he tried to retreat, this time throwing Blizzard at me as he recalled his Keyblade. I melted that with another Fire spell, this time channelled out through Reflect, then aimed the combined Slow/Stop spell at him.

Sora's own Reflect sent that back toward me, and since a spell reflected once doesn't get reflected a second time, I turned his own opening trick against him, going for him with my own Keyblade to get it to reorient on him.

Spells don't last forever though, and he had plenty more room than I'd had. That one just fizzled out without effect.

"New tricks," Sora grunted, blocking an overhand strike then swiping at me. "You're not the only one who's got some though."

"Bring it," I grinned at him.

"You'll regret it," he warned me, then drew back, held out one hand and said, "See ya!"

I'm not quite sure what magic he used, but I can't deny it was an effective weapon against me. It didn't take time to reach me, it just took effect, blanking out my vision except right around me. A very small area that didn't reveal enough.

Sora took full advantage of that, attacking me from various directions. I did what I could to respond, but without being able to see him I caught him only by pure chance alone. Every time I tried to get magic going he deftly interrupted it and disoriented me even further, somehow making it feel as if he was attacking me from two different directions.

Finally I managed to cast Esuna, which removed the effects of the spell and retaliate against an attack he'd been about to make. He's quick on the uptake though, after a brief moment of consternation he drew back again and recast the spell that blanked out so much of my vision.

This time I had an idea though. I remained still and listened. Sora still had the chain hanging off his belt, not to mention the crown around his neck. Both of those make noise whenever he moves, and I turned that against him, listening intently to where they were coming from then swinging for them blindly.

Blind as it may have been, I caught him out much more often until he twigged. Interestingly, he didn't try to mask the sounds – instead he did something that made even more noise all around me, loud enough to lose him.

That didn't last long though as the spell wore off naturally this time.

"You'll have to do better than that to beat me," I told him.

"Oh yeah? I'll show you – mirror image!"

Anyone want to guess what that spell did for him?

The multiple images of Sora were just as dangerous as the real thing. They were fragile, disappearing after only one strike, but they were also independent of each other. No two Sora images acted the same, making it harder to tell which one was the real Sora, and to make matters worse I was having to fend off more Keyblades than I could handle.

As sometimes happens in troublesome situations, I heard those damned whispers again. The darkness could and would help – but at its usual price. It's persistent and patient though, and will keep on going until the trouble passes or you give in.

Instead of turning to it, I decided to try something else. We weren't using the cards, but what if I pulled one out anyway – and what if it happened to be that first enemy card I'd obtained?

There was no way I could keep what I was doing from Sora. The many images seemed to be able to coordinate with each other without words, one capable of responding to something another saw. It was impossible to catch any one of them out if another could see it for that reason.

I used what magic I had to heal myself, then bore the continued attacks long enough to pull out the card for Roxas and use it like any other card that had come from the deck. A great white flash engulfed everything around me, the many images flung clear. When it passed nothing appeared different at first.

I was wearing Roxas's coat though, just like the times before when I'd borrowed his power through the drive forms, and in my off-hand was Gilded Light. Roxas's presence wasn't with me, but the card had done enough to stand in for him and even allow me to take up two Keyblades for a time.

As an experiment though I chose to dismiss them both and see what else the card had allowed, finding exactly what I wanted. Instead of continuing this fight with Keyblades, I pulled out Axel's chakrams from the air instead. Less reach, but you'd be amazed at how much more control that gives – not to mention it's much, much easier to evade attacks when you're not holding two oversized keys around.

The Sora images rallied quickly to continue their fight, but this time I was ready for them. They still outnumbered me vastly, and until I started whittling down their numbers they were still more than capable of dishing out far more damage than I was, but things were looking up. More of them fell to the chakrams than had to the single Keyblade alone.

I still needed to get rid of more of them though, so exchanged them for the great scythe of Marluxia. It's not effective for single opponents, but use broad swings and put plenty of power behind them and dear gods was it effective. The images started to fall like newly mown hay.

As their numbers fell, Sora revealed which one of them was him by starting to use various magic once again. I didn't have the magic to counter that, but it didn't really matter. They'd closed in around me before he'd used his blinding spell again, and that put them well within range of one of my favourite, if clearly overpowered, moves. Magic Hour.

Just like the real Magic Hour I got from Roxas, the sheer power it output was more than enough to restore my own strength, but also enough to forcibly cancel the card's effect. It was a one-use thing that didn't leave much choice in how it was followed up.

Sora's images had been decimated by that, but he still held firm and tried to continue the attack for a time. It was clear his own magic had been strained to the limit between the blinding spell and the mirror images though, enough that now he was the one who didn't have enough to heal.

"Enough," he said weakly after a particularly heavy blow had caused him to stumble back. "I think I get the idea."

"You mean you don't want to play any more?" I asked lightly. "I'm crushed."

"Be nice," he chided. "Someday I'll beat you."

"You're welcome for a rematch anytime – after I get out of here though. It'll take more than a few bits of magic to overpower me though."

"I noticed. I really wasn't expecting you to pull Roxas on me. I thought you'd left him behind."

"Alright Sora, just how do you know about that?"

"Not now. You've got stuff to do. Just pay me a visit once you're done here."

And with that, he disappeared – leaving behind not a feather, but a green leaf slowly sinking into the ocean that had returned around me with his disappearance, the rock gone with it. I was left floating in the empty room with nothing but the two doors, Neku, and that leaf.

That, and one thought.

Sora had a book too.


	27. Blast from the Past

In retrospect, I suppose it's not unreasonable that Sora would be at least a little jealous of me, after having held the real copy of Neku's book throughout my adventures, only to have me take it back when it was all over. Having the power to change reality, even if filtered through the morality of Neku and his relatives, is not something you're going to be able to leave alone once you've had a taste of it – one of the reasons why I seldom write in Neku's book, and instead prefer to ask him to handle it instead. Sophistry, I know, but it works for me.

Why do I always end up explaining something at the start of these chapters? Half the time it isn't even needed.

With Sora's disappearance, the room had become identical to the previous one – an unbroken ocean, the depths lost far below and the surface high above. I'd been restored to the native water form I'd lost when I landed on Sora's rock, and the only other things in the room were Neku, and the leaf that marked the change made by Sora's book – a leaf which blurred and shimmered into another black enemy card for the deck.

Once again, it was neither Heartless or enemy, but this time it was not Roxas or a member of the Organization either. This one depicted me, in Valour form. Perhaps these cards were the castle gradually restoring my access to those abilities I normal had only with Roxas or my various friends from each world around.

"You saw what happened?" I asked, feeling the water shift around me as Neku awkwardly stopped himself drifting past me. He was getting better, as anyone does if they keep doing something for a time, but there was still room for him to improve.

"You really need to ask?" he replied, craning over to see what card I'd picked up. "It explains how they circumvented me. I focused on blocking out Charlie only. It left it open to anyone other than him, and she took advantage of that."

"She? You know who's responsible?"

"I know of her," Neku corrected. "I've never met her. I heard about her a few aeons ago through the one who held my book at the time. I never found out what exactly it was, but it was definitely interested in my relatives, and it was terribly disappointed when it found out I had no power over them."

"I'm curious, Neku. How is it she, whoever she is, and Charlie both leave something behind when they make changes – but you don't?"

"I consider it showing off," he sniffed disdainfully. "I had a hard enough time avoiding unwanted attention before we met without making myself known wherever I went. Some of the idiots that tried to abuse me even tried to announce they held a book that changed reality, and all that."

"I take it you forced them to change their minds."

"Forced is a good word," he agreed. "Say what you will about it being clichéd, but someone who's just been turned into a toad tends to be very agreeable when you change them back. If I let them," he added as an afterthought. "There might be one or two toads that I conveniently forgot about. Served them right." He paused to get started again as we headed for the exit door, then went on, "Of course, if you really want to make a point, you don't turn them into a toad – just make them think they have. They look ridiculous, and it gives them a disturbing taste for flies that usually fades away over time, but it bothers people a lot more – especially with an audience."

"You didn't really do that to someone, did you?"

"Oh, yes. He was a courtier in a royal court about seven hundred years ago that had his eyes on the local throne. There were two theories about what happened according to those present. One said it was God's will punishing him, the other said it was the sorcery of an evil wizard – not that there was such a thing. They did agree on one thing though – they all said it was the best thing they'd seen all year. Should this room be empty?" he asked as an afterthought, noticing the next white room was indeed, empty.

"I think so," I answered. We'd both returned to normal after passing through the door, to the clear relief of Neku. Having a tail is great for swimming, but nothing beats getting back to two legs. "I don't remember much about Riku's story here. You didn't leave something behind, did you?" I added, glancing at him.

"Don't be silly, I can't leave anything behind in there. It's the same process that turns you into a... whatever you are. Do you want to heal this?" he asked, lifting the shirt where his injury was. "Anyway, what could I have left behind?"

"Don't you feel a bit lighter up there?" I pointed to his head while I directed the magic into his book again. Neku looked blank for a moment, then tentatively reached up to his head and felt around. What he didn't find was the headphones that Neku is always seen wearing.

"Oh well," he shrugged once he realized. "They weren't really doing anything. Maybe whoever has them now will actually use them. Besides, it's probably about time I stopped looking like Neku and started to make my own identity."

"Whatever keeps you happy," I murmured.

I tested the door of the next floor, trying the cards for both Hollow Bastion and Destiny Islands to see if the theory held true. Naturally, neither one did anything. Only the Neverland card would open this floor, and if it continued to keep to that, Hollow Bastion would follow.

"Odd," Neku remarked when we passed through the doorway, left standing in a clearing that bordered a cliff on one side. Various teepee tents and totem poles were scattered around, along with some fierce looking shields, each one like a mask. Some had been painted over to make them look more friendly, but it was the kind of thing you'd expect from someone who's only just figured out which end of the paintbrush to use.

Sorry, Pan. I couldn't think of a better way to describe the work your boys did on those shields.

"What's odd about it? It's just Neverland."

"A part you never went to – or Roxas, for that matter. Ventus came here, though I wasn't really paying attention to him at the time. You were busy with the Xaldin Replica and Eraqus at the time. I don't know if you noticed, but while he was here he actually used his Dimension link to you. Surprised the hell out of Hook."

"You're an absolute gold mine of information, do you know that?"

"No one's perfect. What's even stranger is that this floor only has four rooms, including this one. Can't tell you anything about them, but I think we might be able to do something about our friends in there," he tapped my Keyblade, which gave him a slight jolt on contact, making him mutter something I probably didn't want to hear.

I wasn't too concerned about what he considered strange. A nice short floor would be a welcome difference to the lengthy treks through Deep Jungle and Atlantica, and Neverland didn't really hold anything to trouble me – at least, not that I recalled.

The first door lay at the entrance to the Indian camp we'd started in, appearing to lead deeper into the woodlands. No Heartless troubled us, unlike the last floors, which made me nervous. After having been attacked right off the bat before, suddenly finding no one trying to attack us bothered me.

The second room was not in the woodlands. We passed through the door onto a small rock in the middle of an ocean, in which there were many other various rocks. This is the area Roxas is meant to have spent most of his time in Neverland.

Interestingly, the floor of the room was not flat and even here. It rose and fell with the rocks in the ocean, leaving us to swim between them – or, as this was Neverland, fly. You could definitely see the relief in Neku's expression when I did that without even thinking about it instead of swimming.

"First an area only Ven goes to, then a similar one for Roxas," I said to him as we gilded easily along. "What's next – and why aren't there any Heartless around?"

"Who cares? I'm not complaining. You've got plenty of map cards, and every Heartless that doesn't show up is one more that can't get me. I've had just about enough of being beaten up."

"Maybe you should have gone with the others then," I laughed. "Or did you forget I'm forever getting into fights where someone beats me up. It's part of being a hero."

"You keep claiming you're not a hero," he pointed out, weaving through a series of thin spires. "I wish I'd known about this before we went through Atlantica. I could have arranged to be doing this instead of flailing around in the water."

"I guess technically I am a hero," I conceded. "I just don't like to think of myself as one, because if I stopped listening to my ethics..."

"You'd be like your Heartless. I think you're wrong there. Not that it really changes anything, but-" he broke off and looked upward sharply. "Something's changed upstairs. I can't tell what exactly – Charlie's trying to get around me, and it's making it hard to get a clear idea."

"What can you tell so far?"

"Hard to say. He's doing his best to keep me in the dark, that's for sure. I don't think it's good though, I just caught Riku mention darkness and Sora in the same sentence, and it didn't sound like casual conversation. Axel's there too, but I can't make heads or tails of what he's saying."

"Want to stop here for a bit so you can work on it?"

"Absolutely not! If we stop on this floor, we'll never get out of here in one piece. There's something here waiting for a chance to get us."

"Always nice to be warned what you're up against," I muttered sardonically.

"Oh stop that. I was going to tell you, we were just busy talking. That can't be good. Axel just became very clear, and he sounds like he's changing sides and going with Riku."

"I don't mind being interrupted when it comes to being attacked, you know. Watch where you're flying, there's another rock tower ahead."

Neku wasn't paying attention though, forcing me to grab him and drag him away from the meeting he would have had with it. He remained completely unaware of what was going on, even continuing to report on what he found out.

"No, Riku convinced him to go along with him instead. Wait, what happened to Sora? Why isn't he saying anything? He's meant to be the leader of that little party upstairs."

"We'll ask at the next white room where there's an elevator so you can go up and have a look, now will you pay attention? That's twice you've almost flown into a rock!"

"What? Oh, sorry. I was distracted."

"You don't say," I muttered under my breath.

"Be nice," he answered anyway. "Wall up ahead. The door's hidden under the archway of the rock below, just above the waterline."

Just as well he mentioned it, because the walls of that room were completely undetectable without the doors marking them. As an experiment, I picked out another Bottomless Darkness map card, to see if I could get a reaction from any Heartless while here. Neku might have preferred otherwise, but a floor with no Heartless on definitely has something wrong with it.

You'll probably recognise where that door took us. There were Samurais around that paid no attention to us except to avoid running into us, each one of them hard at work on board a ship that was suspiciously reminiscent of Hook's own but with a few modifications. A few extra cannons had been added, and the name on the bow had been painted out.

Though in this section of Neverland it was well into the night, the ship's lights were lit up enough to see she was under full sails, bellied out with a strong wind that kept it going on whatever course it was on. There was no one around commanding the Samurais, not even up by the ship's wheel – also held by another Samurai, which looked odd sporting an eyepatch.

"This must be when Roxas commandeered Hook's ship," Neku told me, narrowly avoiding a passing Samurai heading for the rigging. "And by the looks of the stars, when he took it to Port Royale."

"Has he finished writing up his story yet?"

"Not yet. He's busy writing about when the Organization finally found out Xion had turned on them at the moment. The visit to Port Royale comes later."

"Did he happen to meet Jack there?"  
>"Of course. He posed as a rum-runner at first, then after getting Jack off the island Barbossa marooned him on, took him to the actual Port Royale itself. You can read up about it when you get back. The door to the next room is just behind the Nobody on the wheel."<p>

"In a moment. I just want to find out something first."

Well of course I was curious about why Roxas stole Hook's ship and why it went to Port Royale. I could find that out later though. All I wanted to know then was if he, or at least a memory of him, was in the captain's cabin.

Which he was. Like the Samurais though, he paid no attention to me, although when the first Heartless of the floor showed up Roxas absently obliterated it without looking up from the map on the desk. Sometimes I really do wonder if he picked up more of me than he lets on.

The final door did not exactly lead to yet another part of Neverland. It also put us on the same ship we'd just left, only this time it was under Hook's command as it was when I first visited it.

I can be certain it was that time even though we were stood in the captain's cabin again because of the scene unfolding in front of us. A memory of the original visit, with Donald and Goofy on either side of me, looking just as I did back then, watching as Riku and Smee, holding Kairi and Wendy respectively, backed out of the door. To bar the path after them, the shadow of the memory-me flowed up and out.

What followed that did not happen originally though. The shadow looked directly at me, then launched itself into the memory of me, disappearing as it flowed into the chest. The memories of Donald and Goofy vanished entirely, then I watched the remaining memory turn to face me.

It looked like Sora – just like I had at the time – but it was clearly under the influence of the shadow of me. Not to be mistaken for my Heartless though.

And then it called a weapon to its hand, not Gilded Light, not the Kingdom Key or the dark alternates of either, but Riku's first real weapon – Soul Eater.


	28. Hands of the Heartless

The Shadow of me held Riku's Soul Eater, but it did not look like it knew how to handle it. It might have been a Shadow of me, formed from the memory of the Shadow Riku had created and the memory of myself as I'd been at the time, but unlike my Heartless, it lacked the real connection to me.

He held Soul Eater thrust out ahead of him, almost as if he was afraid of it turning on him or something, but also aimed for me. Unskilled as he appeared to be, one wrong move by either of us and he could easily skewer me on the end. Coming up against an unskilled opponent is in some ways more dangerous than a skilled one – reason being, you never know what they're going to do next.

We remained in a standoff for a time, watching and waiting. If I'd raised my Keyblade, he'd have attacked – if he relented, I'd attack. Something had to break that stalemate, and in the confined space of the cabin there was no room for Neku to directly get involved.

The only option I could see was the same one I'd used on the data-Riku back in Hollow Bastion – magic without any sound or move made while casting it. Question was, what do you use in a situation like this? Fire was ruled out for obvious reasons aboard a wooden vessel, and without much space Thunder and similar spells had as much chance of catching me as they did him.

Earth magic was similarly useless – we were out at sea, even if I did call for some it would come from the seabed and take a long time to reach us.

"Ideas are welcome," I murmured, directed at Neku.

Neku wasn't the next voice I heard though. I clearly heard Ventus give me a somewhat cryptic suggestion.

_"Have faith in the Keyblade, and its light will dispel all ills and shadows, setting the course once more for the light to return."_

Not the easiest thing to interpret, but I had time. The Shadow was showing no sign of relenting, and as long as we both remained ready to react there was nothing going to happen.

'Dispel all ills' suggested Esuna, which was itself light-based magic. Shadows obviously referred to the Shadow I faced, and the Keyblade should have been a source of light. The Keyblade of People's Hearts is a bit different – it's neither of light or dark – so I couldn't be certain it would be able to help. Unless that was why he had told me to 'have faith in the Keyblade'.

The last part still evaded me though. Light to return? What had he meant by that?

He'd at least given me an idea of the next course I could take. I don't find it easy to believe in some things, but by the sounds of him I had to. So I trusted the Keyblade to respond as I wished, working with my own magic to enhance the already potent Esuna spell, then with care not to show any sign of what I was doing, I cast it.

The spell seemed to almost dribble out. At first only my Keyblade glowed, with the glow curiously taking on an amorphous shape that resembled the outline of Gilded Light. The Shadow shielded his eyes from the light with his free arm, taking care not to leave himself open, but he was too slow – the light began to spread, over me, then from me to the floor of the cabin. He started to squint to try to reduce the light he was seeing, but it continued to spread over the cabin until no matter where he looked, there was light stabbing at him.

_"Now, drive your Keyblade into the Shadow, and restore the light!" _Ventus commanded me.

I trusted him – mostly because despite the light, the Shadow was still poised to strike. Perhaps because I was also glowing with the same light as everything else, he was unable to make out where I was or what I was doing.

So I trusted him and I lunged, sending the Keyblade straight through his chest. It acted almost like a lightning rod, drawing the light from all around into it, and from there into the Shadow. It stiffened, gave a hollow wail, then shattered into a blaze of light.

When it cleared, there were two things immediately apparent. First, Neku had vanished. No door had been touched, no sign of anything moved, he'd simply disappeared. Second, and perhaps more importantly, where the Shadow had been, with the tip of my Keyblade only just over his head, was the King – the light Ventus had mentioned being restored.

He wasn't facing me, so as I prudently put my Keyblade aside he looked around in confusion.

"Huh? What – where am I? What happened?"

"You're in the data Castle Oblivion, one of the basement floors that's been made to resemble Neverland," I told him, startling him as he turned quickly to see me. "Welcome back, your Majesty."

"Back? From what? Last thing I remember, I was cleaning up all the bugs you'd left in Agrabah with Tron and the others. When we finished Tron opened a portal to the next world, then I was here."

"You were, for a time, one of the seven people who were locked in here," I explained, holding up the Keyblade of People's Hearts – which was no longer complete without Mickey's presence, now looking exactly as it had been when Riku held it. Only half the heart shape that made up the teeth of the key was there.

"I'm not one of the princesses though. That was formed from their hearts."

"The normal rules got suspended when Charlie started to get involved. Come with me, I'll explain what you've missed while we go along. Did Neku return your Kingdom Key, by the way?"

Mickey just answered by calling it to him.

"Where is that book of yours, anyway?"

"I'm still around," Neku answered. "When you were released from the Keyblade, I wasn't just able to remove my avatar again, I was forced to. I'm still looking into things, but I think it's something Castle Oblivion has done. Neither you or Data-Sora can have more than one companion."

"Did you find out what happened up there, by the way?" I asked.

"Marluxia caused his darkness to flare part way through a floor as an experiment. Riku bullied Axel into giving him a hand in getting him back out of the darkness again."

"Data-Sora doesn't have any darkness," Mickey objected.

"Like I said, come with me and I'll try to cover everything."

So punctuated with frequent questions from the King and occasional corrections from Neku, which I didn't take very graciously, we headed out of Neverland – apparently the Shadow counted as the local boss for the floor, but it had neglected to leave behind a card like the previous two – and on into Hollow Bastion. Once again I'd paused to see if the Destiny Islands card would open it, but there was no such luck. In order or not at all seemed to be the trend here.

Heartless appeared as usual in Hollow Bastion, but with the King's aid we were able to deal with them far better than I had with Neku. For one thing, they were no longer aiming for Neku, or for either one of us specifically, and for another Mickey is far more skilled than Neku was.

Our route through Hollow Bastion was split up by the rooms, of course. The first room depicted the Rising Falls almost well enough to believe we were not actually in a room in Castle Oblivion if it hadn't been for the door just before the area where Riku had once taken my Keyblade from me.

That door did not lead through to that area, but straight on to the Entrance Hall, and it was about that time I finally finished explaining things to Mickey. Just as well, because the memory of Riku was waiting for me there, just as he had been originally.

He did not hold a Kingdom Key, or Soul Eater, or even Riku's Way to the Dawn.

He held my Gilded Light.

"Isn't that-" Mickey started.

"Of course it is, don't ask silly questions." He almost responded to that, but apparently thought better of it. I don't imagine anyone's ever accused him of asking silly questions before. Then to Riku, I just asked, "Don't you think you should give that back?"

"Why would I want to do that?" he replied. "You've got my Keyblade there, I've got yours here. Seems fair to me."

"How'd you get it anyway?" Mickey demanded.

"I was given it," Riku shrugged. "He said his name was Charlie, and you'd know what that meant."

"He's started finding ways to get around Neku," I murmured.

"Hearing's good as ever," Riku told me pointedly.

"Don't you know it's rude to listen to things you're not meant to?" I retorted irritably.

"Temper, temper. I'd hate to have to do anything to you."

"Just what do you think you can do to me? You may hold my Keyblade, but you're still little more than a memory!"

"Oh, really? Could a memory do this?" He held out one hand, onto which flashed one of Charlie's feathers. "And could a memory do this either?" he continued, levelling my Keyblade at me. The beam of light he shot at me came out with such speed that I had no time to react to it. It threw me up against the same door we'd just come through with enough force to keep me held down.

And then he threw the feather at me. Just like the first time I'd seen one used, it ignored the natural laws and came at me like a shot out of a cannon, and from the impact came darkness. All around, everywhere I looked, there was nothing but darkness. Flowing through me, despite any resistance I put up, was more darkness. Charlie hadn't just found a way around Neku. He'd found a way to render all the progress I'd made here a complete waste of time.

There was always an option. I still had things to do, I couldn't give in to it, but neither could I be rid of it without using it – which was ultimately just as self-destructive as doing nothing. But there was always an option.

With great effort, subdued several times by a jolt I couldn't see a source of, I managed to bring what thought I had into focus and thought two words. Anti Form. The only safe way to handle my darkness.

The darkness cleared in a whirlwind, seeming to be sucked into me. I could still feel it there, I could still hear it there, but I could see again. I could see in the same blacks and whites I had when I had been a Heartless. I was acutely aware of the fact that my form had changed – just as Riku and Data-Sora had told me last time I'd done this, I no longer appeared human in this form, I appeared to be a Novashadow that simply wore my clothes.

I could see Mickey backing away, his Kingdom Key held warily ahead of him, uncertain of who was the greater threat – me or Riku. More concerning was that I could _feel_ him there. I could feel the sense of his heart, I could taste his feelings in the air. I caught the same from Riku too of course, but Riku's were duller than Mickey's, harder to pick out.

_"Obey." _It was a voice that had no actual voice to it, a command that held tones with no sound. Neither Mickey or Riku had said anything, but that silent voice had come from somewhere.

_"Obey,"_ it repeated. _"You are as a Heartless. You are as the darkness. You must submit."_

Now Riku beckoned to me, and I fought a compulsion to obey the command his gesture implied. I resisted the command, but I headed for him anyway. If he wasn't aware I was doing this under my own choice, it could give me an edge.

_"Surrender your will. You are mine now."_ It was coming from Riku, I was sure now. Here he had darkness and command over the Heartless. He was trying to extend that to cover me as well.

I ignored his command and merely waited before him.

_"Deal with the King,"_ he commanded. I ignored him this time, extending one clawed hand outward to him. He showed shock, but was powerless to respond once I took hold of his arm. All the struggling he put up did him no good. I had all the darkness inflicted on me to use how I wished without issue.

With my other hand I took my Keyblade off him, which still burned to the touch, but without either him or me holding it, dismissed itself and left him disarmed.

Then, taking great care not to let it spread to anyone else I took all the remaining darkness he'd forced on me, gathered it all together, and even supplied some of my own latent darkness.

And with it, I forced it back out of me, into him. In leaving me it left my control, some of it trying to flow back to me but I held fast and pushed it back out again. I could still feel it in him though, and I felt him desperately trying to wrestle with the unexpected mass I'd just forced back onto him.

I wasn't entirely happy with what it did next. I felt it at work, searching, seeking, looking for something. And then it found what it was after. It reached into the heart of the memory of Riku, and it crushed that heart. The darkness claimed the memory for itself, leaving a Heartless behind which quickly disappeared.

With the darkness gone with it, the supply that had been maintaining my form was also gone and I returned to normal. Almost. My hands had not been restored to normal, they were still the four clawed hands of the Heartless I had briefly looked like.

It was awkward taking hold of the Keyblade that I noticed had been left on the floor where I'd been, but not so awkward I couldn't get used to it. I noticed once again there was another part missing to it – half the guard was missing this time.

"Oh, put that down," I told Mickey. "I'll be fine."

"You turned into a Heartless and now you're just _fine_? Are you mad?"

"Probably. He just caught me by surprise, that's all. This will wear off eventually," I told him, holding up one hand. I didn't tell him I wasn't certain of that. "Shall we continue? We've got the rest of Hollow Bastion to go through still."

Mickey stared at me in astonishment, then shook his head and ran after me.

"I'm really not cut out to work with you, Liam."

"I know," I agreed happily. "It's one of my charms."

Mickey muttered a complaint under his breath that he probably didn't intend for me to hear.


	29. Needs of a Nobody

I know Mickey will sooner or later read this, so right here and now I'll apologize to him. I know I'm not the easiest person for him to work with, and I know I bother him a great deal – sometimes deliberately. But, Olympus Coliseum aside, at least I never had reason to oppose him. Being a king has its appeal for some, but I wouldn't be very good at it.

Hollow Bastion continued to unfold, sometimes not following the real version as it should have, as we passed through the various rooms. Mickey had grown used to my careful choice of cards at each door, but had said little on them until we reached the room Neku assured us was the last one before the local boss room. It held few Heartless, but took time to get through as it made up a maze.

"I remember when Riku was going through here," he mused to himself. "Couldn't be here for a lot of it, not until he got a long way through. Had to keep holding Ansem off him."

"I know the story," I murmured. "We should see some of the Organization soon."

"Shoulda seen Vexen already. He showed up on the floor before for Riku."

"You know what things are like when I'm around," I laughed. "Nothing happens as it's meant to."

"Y'know, there's one thing Riku absolutely refused to explain to me," Mickey told me, pausing to send a Shadow flying, then staring thoughtfully off. "He kept telling me there was a different way things could have gone, a way that would have Sora do what you did. He didn't go into detail though, and he'd never tell me how you knew that."

"It's a long story," I answered evasively. "We ought to move on and get this floor out the way. The white rooms between floors are safer areas."

"Wait, Lee," Neku said. "I think I've discovered something."

"Is it going to make a difference between now and the white room?"

"I don't know. You're the one who can decide that. You know your Keyblade lost a bit more after you defeated Riku, right?"

"How could anyone miss it," Mickey remarked, rolling his eyes upward.

"Be nice," I murmured to the little King, then to the formless voice of Neku, "You can tell what it means?"

"Sort of. I can't tell much because only you can actually do anything. If you touch – touch mind, not attack – Mickey with that Keyblade, you can exchange him for the data-Riku that was trapped in the blade with him. Defeating Riku was what released him, but because you and Data-Sora can only have one companion, he can't appear."

"So I have to chose which I want. Won't Riku just turn on me if I set him loose?"

"He's a companion, Lee. He can't. Besides, if he gets out of line, remind him you're the one who freed him – and that you can always just bring Mickey back out again."

"What about what happened to Sora upstairs thought?"

"He's the leader of that party, not a companion. Different rules apply. Be careful in the last room, by the way. You'll have to face off against your Heartless, and there's something else there I can't figure out. It's stubbornly resistant to me."

That either meant another book, or something under one's influence. It was an intriguing discovery, but I hadn't yet figured out why I would want to bring out data-Riku. If he was anything like when we'd seen him, he'd still have darkness on a similar scale to what Ansem gave the real Riku.

I'd also have to consider that in a battle against Anti-Liam, everything became a card that had to be used to take effect – perhaps even the change of companions, and that was what made the reasoning clear.

Neku had warned me that any green card drew on my darkness. Data-Riku had his own darkness. If a companion could use my cards even as I could...

"Don't take offence if I do exchange you for Riku – or any later companion," I warned Mickey. "It'll be a tactical decision based on the situation."

"At least I won't have to put up with you," he quipped. "You've gotta use the cards here like ya did the time you told me about, don't you?" he asked shrewdly.

"Always do. It's Neku's way to prevent either of us from overpowering each other too soon. Don't be too surprised by what I say in a moment," I added with a vicious grin as we reached the door. "I'm going to see if I can put him off guard somehow."

Mickey eyed me suspiciously, but said nothing as I opened the final door. Beyond it there lay the grand room that was the site of the final Keyhole, just behind the same marble bier upon which Kairi's data counterpart had been laid out was none other than my Heartless, poring over a collection of cards laid out over it. He was muttering to himself, pointing to one, then another. The sort of thing I do when I know no one is watching and I'm trying to plan something.

One key difference I noted immediately this time was that where my hands were now those of a Novashadow, his hands were clearly fully human. Neku might have severed the link that allowed him to pick up anything from me, but even so whatever change happened to me held the reverse for him.

"Well, well," I called loudly, startling him. "Look what we've stumbled over, your Majesty - my errant Heartless. Last time I saw him he was running for his life. His luck isn't much improved. He still can't tell when the cards are necessary or not."

Anti-Liam's expression through that announcement passed from startled to irritated, then at last flickered into a momentarily disturbed look that told clearly my simple deception had upset his confidence slightly, just as I wanted it to.

"Oh, very clever," he snapped, quickly scooping up the cards on the bier. "Your wit is absolutely blinding. "Your Majesty," he nodded briefly to Mickey. "I imagine you'll treat me the same way you did Ansem – hatred and contempt."

"Are you sure he's your Heartless?" Mickey asked me. "That doesn't sound like the sort of thing you'd say."

"It's because he's stuck without any link to me in this place, he's starting to diverge and become a little different to me. It won't save him much, but it'll make things easier on me."

"Should I go somewhere else?" Anti-Liam asked acidly. "So you can discuss my faults without me around?"

"No, that's alright," I grinned back. "We're all friends here. We shouldn't have any secrets from each other."

Anti-Liam just snorted derisively. I figured there was no point in staving off the inevitable, so with a snap of my fingers – eventually, since the clawed Heartless hands I'd been left with weren't really made for it – I called a selection of Samurais to either side. A wordless suggestion as I'd done so suggested to them that they should not yet reveal their own cards.

"What's wrong?" Anti-Liam inquired nastily. "Don't think you can beat me on your own?"

I merely shrugged, "What's the point of having help if you don't ask for it?" Then with a gesture, each Samurai drew their blades. I fully intended to give him the impression that the cards weren't necessary.

He remained cautious though, not calling his dark Keyblade to hand. The cards he'd rapidly collected were kept in his off hand, ready to use at a moment's notice. Using the cover of one of the Samurais, I made gestures to get Mickey's attention without looking at him, suggesting silently that he should join ranks with them. After a few moments he got the idea, and with his Kingdom Key in hand he took up a position among them.

Anti-Liam wasn't going to make the first move though. He awaited some sign that confirmed the requirement of the cards, or the lack of their necessity. I was going to have to see what I could do to deal with that.

With a very brief glance I checked the first card in my own deck, which was a red attack card. I had hoped it would be a magic card, which would have been easier to conceal, but I could improvise. I concealed the card between my hand and the grip of the Keyblade, then picked my way through the massed ranks toward him. His attention focused instantly onto me, knowing as well as I did that he and I were the key players here.

Anti-Liam called his Keyblade at last, to my relief still the darkened copy of Gilded Light. He may have had my hands now, but he did not have my Keyblade. He held it very defensively, keeping it between the two of us so he could evade whether a card was used or not.

It inconvenienced me somewhat, as I had to keep the appearance of a healthy wariness of his Keyblade even though it was completely useless in this battle. He was still burdened with the uncertainty though, and that caused him to take an exceptionally defensive pose.

Finally I got around it by raising my Keyblade as if to strike. He shifted his own to respond, and as he did so I dropped the Keyblade, willing it to dismiss itself – which it obligingly did – then I pulled the attack card on him, striking out low with the one-use Gilded Light it granted me.

Anti-Liam jumped back though, still caught by the tip of the blade but it was only a glancing blow. He quickly drew the first card from his other hand, which was also an attack card that struck down on one shoulder. If I hadn't bent my knees before the blow they would have buckled under the force, but bent as they were they allowed me to withstand most of the force behind it and even get up, grab his own head and smash it into my own.

We both stumbled back away from each other, ears ringing, but during the exchange the Samurais had already taken their cue and exchanged their blades for the decks of black Heartless cards, the first rounds of Heartless already being summoned in before them. Mickey showed momentary surprise, but gave both Nobody and Heartless alike the benefit of the doubt, ignored them, snatched a red card from the deck in my hand, then darted in and used it to attack Anti-Liam on his own. Evidently as a companion he had to work with my deck and cards as well, but how had he learned that?

"I told him, that's how," Neku told me. "Just concentrate on your fight before your distraction costs you."

I suppose I was asking for that.

The Heartless summoned were all of one variety this time, Zip Slashers specifically. They were about the same height as me, each with thin but sharp blue blades for each hand and each clinking with every movement as their armour shifted.

By the continued unspoken commands through which the Samurais communicated with the Heartless, the Zip Slashers marched forward to block my Heartless from reaching the retreating Mickey. With no cards in hand he could not attack, and he had only taken one card from me.

Anti-Liam's focus had not yet worked around to the Samurais, so he had not noticed they were summoned from cards. He took in the ranks of Heartless advancing on him, then dismissed them as being of no importance and tried to bull his way through, apparently thinking that as they were not, as far as he could perceive, using or called by cards, they were no threat to him.

They quickly disabused him of that notion. Mickey winced clearly as Anti-Liam made a number of sounds and remarks from their attacks. During that distraction I picked out a selection of blue and red cards and passed them to him. Only a handful, but they'd allow him to participate for a time. I then withdrew to a position behind the Samurais, which obligingly closed ranks to bar the path of anyone who attempted to reach me.

Anti-Liam finally managed to extricate himself from the massed attacks with only one Heartless lost, quickly replaced with another Zip Slasher. Muttering to himself, he picked cards carelessly, using whatever the first card to hand was to try and deal with them. He used a number of Heal magic cards that had little effect after the first, but his inattentiveness was costing him.

I took more care with my cards, selecting the blue magic cards first. The advantage to them was that they still gave control in some measure to me in how they affected the area around. Fire and Blizzard flew over the heads of the Heartless and Nobodies, further annoying Anti-Liam and proving had a similar gift for being offensive in his remarks.

I suppose if you really wanted I could go into detail, but he differs from me in that his remarks tend to be graphic descriptions of what he wants to do to people. Very graphic, and very detailed.

Somehow I didn't think many want to hear about that.

Not all magic was aimed at Anti-Liam directly though. Zip Slashers are part of a family of Heartless, a number of which have elements to them. Some carefully placed and controlled magic changed two into the Heat Sabers with some fire magic, while a Blizzard switched another two became Chill Rippers. Thunder turned a further two into the thunder-aligned Blitz Spears. I almost directed more magic at the remaining four, but Anti-Liam dispatched all four neatly with an attack that made him look like he was in the center of a miniature tornado.

The Samurais replaced them not with more Zip Slashers as had been done before, but with a Blizzard Plant, a Fire Plant, a Green Requiem and finally a Barrier Master, the latter of which quickly cast its own magic over all of us to create an impenetrable barrier, then falling back alongside me. It gave me a look, then shuddered and edged away as if nervous.

At the same time, the Green Requiem swooped low over each of us, dropping a healing dust over us all. Not all of us required it, but unlike my Heartless it did not need a card to do this, so there was no wastage involved. Once its task was done it too withdrew from reach, only it flew up above the main battle.

"Oh, come on!" Anti-Liam snapped. "Play fair!"

"Can't do anything but!" I called back. "The cards see to that!"

He ducked under Mickey's card, a blast of wind magic that tried to throw him back, kicked the Blizzard Plant in combination with a green card that engulfed his foot in a dark fire. The barrier prevented the direct damage, but it set the Heartless alight until it awkwardly managed to spit a ball of ice at itself to put the fire out.

Mickey ducked back out of the battle to rejoin me, breathing hard from the exertion, while my Heartless continued to try and break through the barrier erected by the nearby Heartless, which drew back even further when the little King joined us. I started to re-think the possibility that Heartless have no feelings. They do consume hearts, after all. Maybe they confer some simple feelings on those Heartless who manage to take them.

"You're gonna have to do something," Mickey told me after the Green Requiem made another pass. "Any idiot can command a force, even one like this, but against your Heartless it's not enough. You're doing well, but..."

"But we need something more powerful to break through," I finished, thoughtfully tapping my deck against my chin. I called the Keyblade back to my hand, glanced at it for a moment, then said, "I think it's time for that change over I warned you about. I don't know if you'll experience anything, or if the next thing you'll know is when I bring you back out again, but I'll try not to leave you there too long."

"Don't worry about me, Liam. You're the important one here. If it means getting yourself back under control, I can stand it. Just do me a favour and don't take too long – I don't wanna worry Minnie too much this time."

"I'll see what I can do," I laughed knowingly – I did have a boyfriend waiting back at home, of course – then I tapped him on the head with the Keyblade of People's Hearts, uncertain of how this worked.

The effect was quite interesting. After the tap, a silvery glow surrounded him, attached to the Keyblade by a sliver of light. The glow shifted shape as I raised the Keyblade, forming into a more humanoid shape. When it passed the point where Data-Riku's head would have been, Mickey faded out even as Data-Riku faded in again, the glowing light fading.

"About time," he said ungraciously. "Don't bother me with the details, I know how this goes. I do what you need me to, you don't do anything to me."

"I see you lack the charm Riku has," I observed, quickly leafing through the remaining cards in my deck, separating the green from the rest, occasionally adding a red or blue to the mix. "Take these, and do what you can to irritate my Heartless. Don't be afraid to use your darkness."

"Did you want to tell me how to swing a sword too?" he asked acidly, gesturing with Soul Eater called into one hand, waved uncomfortably close to me. "You do your job and let me do mine."

Without another word, he paused to terrorize the Barrier Master into replacing the barrier which had disappeared with Mickey, then shoved his way through Nobody and Heartless alike to, there was no other word for it, beat up Anti-Liam. I received a few complaints from the Samurais about him, but he was inconveniently useful for the moment.

My Heartless wasn't out of tricks yet though. He couldn't harm our forces directly, but he quickly came up with a trick that I had to admire despite myself. Data-Riku sent Dark Firaga at him, so he uprooted the Blizzard Plant and threw it into the path. The dark spell ignored the barrier as the two were on the same side, allowing it to destroy the Heartless.

He appeared to realize that unless he did something about the sources of the Heartless, that wasn't going to be enough. The Samurais did their best to keep out of his reach but also keep the line between him and me, along with the still cowering Barrier Master. They were quick enough to realize when they were in danger though, and the Heartless quickly crowded in to prevent them from getting harmed.

In a fit of irritation he sent out a blast of darkness that I could smell fouling the air, aimed at the Barrier Master. I quickly tried to call it away as soon as I picked out the direction of the attack, but there wasn't enough time for it to get clear. In one swift attack he managed to eliminate all but the Green Requiem, two Samurais and Data-Riku – who jumped in front of Anti-Liam, pulled out three green cards, then thrust Soul Eater as he used them. Anti-Liam gave a yelp of pain, then once again turned and fled into a corridor, leaving behind him another black enemy card which Data-Riku picked up to hand over to me.

"You run a good fight," he admitted grudgingly as he gave it to me – Wisdom Form, I noticed with a brief glance. "And your Heartless is an... interesting opponent. Don't think this means I like you any more than I did before."

"Maybe I should see if Neku will let you join Data-Sora upstairs so you can see what Riku is like."

"Liam," Neku said quietly, his voice coming from Data-Riku. Neku used his arm to point toward a figure in one corner of the room.

"I wish he wouldn't do that," Data-Riku muttered. "I hate feeling like I'm not in control of myself." Then he noticed my curious expression and asked, "You know who that is?"

"Roxas," I nodded. "But what is he doing here? Roxas!" I called to him.

He turned to face me, looking puzzled.

"Do I know you? Or better... do you know me?"

"Know you? You're... wait, what do you remember?"

"I dunno," he replied, picking his way through some rubble. "There was a boy in red... then I was here and you called me Roxas. It just... felt like it was my name. That's all."

"This boy... did he look like me, do you remember?"

Roxas looked me over intently, then shook his head. "Taller, and with different hair."

"Sora," Data-Riku suggested. "But he never had a Nobody."

"What's a Nobody?" Roxas asked with only mild curiosity.

I shared a look with Data-Riku, then sighed and beckoned for Roxas to join us as I headed for the door – which was covering the Keyhole of Hollow Bastion.

"Come with us. I'll try to explain when I get the chance."


	30. Dark Sources

Roxas's unexpected appearance was troubling, and his demeanour even more so. He gave the impression of being blank, and only ever showed mild curiosity about anything mentioned. There was little change to his expression, it too blank as he watched incuriously.

There was no immediate opportunity to explain anything to him though. While Data-Riku retained his animosity toward me, he also seemed to understand his predicament and was at least willing to grudgingly lend a hand in some way or another.

"Liam," he murmured as we passed through the door. "Up ahead."

I glanced up from my preoccupation to see the first member of the Organization Riku had once met.

"Vexen," I breathed harshly. Then louder, I accused, "You're late."

"Perhaps," he replied without concern. "You present the appearance of someone who has a problem. Perhaps we can help you with that."

I glared at him for a moment, then stalked to one side of the room muttering to myself.

"Seems he doesn't like you," Data-Riku told him.

"Why doesn't he like Vexen?" Roxas asked.

"He'll tell us in his own time. Unless Vexen knows."

"Why would I know something like that?" Vexen replied. "But it is not him I have an interest in. You have with you a boy who has no memories. We have upstairs someone who can help with that. We may be... persuaded to assist him, but only if your dear leader there will meet our terms."

"Forget it," I growled. "It wouldn't work, anyway. She isn't the real Naminé."

"Real?" Vexen inquired, clearly curious. "What nonsense are you spouting? Of course she is real."

I gave him a withering look, then explained, "You, Marluxia, Naminé – you're all fakes. Mere data copies of the real things. Vexen is dead, destroyed by me some time ago – as are all the other Nobodies in the castle." I paused, then corrected, "Except for Roxas there. But he's a... special case."

"You are in error, boy," Vexen told me reprovingly. "Naminé's power is quite real. Even now, Sora journeys through the upper floors of the castle, his memories being rearranged."

"That Sora is in fact a data-copy himself. I'm not surprised she has power over him. Roxas there is not data however, and neither is Riku, who travels with him. No doubt you've already discovered that he is immune to Naminé's power."

"If Riku is with Sora, then how is it he appears here?" he responded, gesturing to Data-Riku.

"I'm just data," Data-Riku shrugged.

"You're oddly accepting of that," I remarked. "I thought you'd be more like the Riku Replica – bitter about it, constantly trying to find a way to be real."

"What for?" he asked with an oddly amused look. "All I have to do is ask Mickey to keep our datascape running. I can't leave anyway, so I'll leave the real world to Riku."

"Most intriguing," Vexen murmured. "So if you are to be believed, our offer is indeed worthless. However, there are other considerations. I find within you," he nodded to me, "there is a darkness even greater than that of the Superior flowing through you."

"I know. I'm dealing with it, and I don't need your help. I happen to know you're responsible for a number of things."

"Ah, but by your own admission I am not the same one who did those things."

"You're based on him," I shrugged. "You have his memories, the same smug, superior and offensive attitude. You'll try to take advantage of the situation, just like he did, and unless things change too much you'll fall to Sora just like Vexen did to me. Go away, Vexen," I told him bluntly. "I've got no interest in having dealings with you. And don't even think about trying to make a Replica of me, or I'll walk all over you – in an interesting and very painful way."

Vexen chose not to answer that, making an exit.

"You can be a very offensive fellow, do you know that?" Data-Riku told me.

"It's a charming habit of his," Riku's voice came, very similar to his data counterpart. His voice was closely followed by a ghostly image of him nearby. "I need your advice, Liam."

"I'm touched. What's going on upstairs?"

"That's what I need your advice on. Sora's losing his memories, and they're being replaced with other ones."

"Good. That's meant to happen."

"I think you might want to re-think that idea. The memories he's getting in return... he's got some very negative opinions about you now. He thinks I share them for some reason – I've been playing along to keep him from turning on me, but it's only a matter of time before he ignores the whole reason you sent him here and he comes looking for you."

"Try not to let him. I'd rather not have a second meeting with Marluxia – or Larxene."

"Larxene's out of the picture already. She attacked him much earlier than Neku says she should have. She made a few inappropriate remarks, and Sora took it badly. Axel might be considering turning on the others though."

"If you can win him over for good, I can arrange for him to be a second companion," Neku told him, speaking again through Data-Riku. "That'll give Liam a second companion here."

"I can manage," I protested. He merely stared at my hands pointedly. "So I let it get a little out of control. Once. I'm not going to let it again."

Riku gave me an amused look himself, then disappeared again.

"You ought to get moving too," Neku told me. "Take a moment here to prepare if you need, but keep moving. If I'm right, you'll be on the next floor for a while."

"You're not... Riku, are you?" Roxas asked. "You sound different."

"I'm a friend of Liam's," Neku answered evasively. "I have to act through other people at the moment. He'll explain things when he isn't so distracted. Trust him, Roxas. He knows what he's doing – or at least he says he does."

"Neku!" I protested. "Of course I know what I'm doing, this entire thing was my idea!"

"He's gone," Data-Riku reported. "I really wish he'd find another way of doing that," he added with a shudder.

Roxas looked slightly more curious than usual, "Is it really that bad?"

"You've no idea. It's like being a passenger in your own body."

"I never had a problem with it," I told him, heading for the door. "There were times when I had to let Roxas take over from me."

"I... don't remember that," Roxas admitted after a moment.

"He doesn't mean you," Data-Riku told him. "Roxas is the name of his Nobody too."

"Are you going to tell me what a Nobody is now?"

"Better explain it to him," I sighed. "Otherwise he'll pester us about it until you tell him."

"Why me?"

"Because I said so Riku. Don't argue with me. He's your responsibility. I've got too much on my mind..." I broke off as the door opened to the Destiny Islands card.

It _was_ Destiny Islands, but now I understood why the card for it had been oddly darkened. This was the Destiny Islands as they were at the End of the World. The door itself opened out onto a collection of floating rocks high above the actual islands, each one seeming to represent another world. A hedgerow shaped into the heart of Wonderland, followed by one of the statues from just outside Olympus Coliseum.

Roxas and Data-Riku followed me through the door into the floor itself, picking their footing carefully on the slowly turning rock.

"Watch where I step," I warned them, scanning ahead. The second rock had the fountain from Traverse Town on it, and just behind it was the ruined shack from Deep Jungle. Now we were inside the floor itself I could see a string of tiny rocks, like the one we were on, turning slowly in the air.

"You can't cross on those," Data-Riku told me. "They'll move before you get a stable footing."

"I told you to take care of Roxas," I replied absently. "Leave this problem to me."

I regarded the problem for a moment, then decided as there was no other route between the two larger rocks, I figured there had to be something that could be done to them.

The solution was simple. Stop cast over the area between the two naturally caused the smaller rocks to freeze in place, no longer turning.

"Don't take too long to cross," I threw back over my shoulder. "The spell won't last forever." Then, picking my way carefully from rock to rock to, I started to make my way over. Heights aren't as much of an issue for me as they used to be, but it was still unnerving making that crossing so far above the Islands far below. As we crossed, the water below turned a darker colour, and the mainland in the distance vanished.

"Ansem," Data-Riku breathed. "I can feel him. He's trying to get at you through me, Liam."

"Your darkness originated with him, it's understandable. Draw from mine instead."

"Are you insane?" he half shouted, almost losing his footing. I leapt up onto the second rock, pulling Roxas onto it after me, then quickly extended my hand again to Data-Riku. "If I switch his darkness for yours, every time I use it-"

"You'll take it away from me, which will make things easier on me," I interrupted him, turning back to look toward the next rock. There was a larger, mossy rock that had the symbol of a trident on it from Atlantica, and a strangely organic looking chunk of... something that I finally identified as something from Monstro. "Right now, my darkness is a problem. I've got too much of it no matter how much or how unsafely I use it. If someone else takes it from me it makes it easier for me. Since you plan to stick around after I'm done here, it makes sense."

"I suppose you did think it through a bit more than I thought," he admitted eventually. "You didn't sound like you'd thought about it."

"I'm not just a pretty face," I replied. "There's a mind behind it too."

"Pretty face?" he remarked sceptically.

"Just ask Riku – he'd probably agree. Among a few others, of course. Now get on with it and draw from my darkness before you become too much of a threat. I don't much fancy trying to fight Ansem up here."

I repeated the same spell several more times to get us past rocks that held parts of yet more worlds – Halloween town and Agrabah, Hollow Bastion with Enchanted Dominion, then the Dwarf Woodlands alongside the Castle of Dreams. Then, oddly, one last rock that held the strange, polished white structures of the Dark Margin and a similarly white chunk of stone from the Castle that Never Was.

Roxas continued to pester Data-Riku with incessant questions, each one spoken with the same mild curiosity. There was a strangely empty lack of feeling to him. I knew he had been zombie-like when he'd first come into existance, but this seemed to take it to extremes. He never once raised or lowered his voice, keeping it calm and level.

_"He doesn't have my heart,"_ Ven told me. _"He's not your Roxas. I'm not sure who he's the Nobody of, but he isn't yours."_

At least that explained it. I didn't answer though, opening the door on that last rock. It opened out further below onto the beach, at the same point I'd been deposited when I'd been after Ansem.

Something formless tugged hard on a part of me that wasn't physically there, pulling toward Data-Riku.

"Not so much," I warned him. "You don't want to flood yourself with it."

"Just how much have you got here?" he breathed in awe. "I've never seen so much!"

"As soon as someone comes up with a way to measure it, you'll be the first to know. Come out, Ansem!" I shouted. "Come and face me!"

"Are you _mad?_" he demanded again, stepping in front of me.

"Oh, stop that," I told him, pushing him lightly aside. "Ansem isn't going to defeat me."

His expression suggested he didn't have faith in me – either that, or my solution for keeping Ansem out of him.


	31. Splashdown

I like the Islands normally – there's a kind of serenity about them that I've yet to find anywhere else – but with the various influences that marked it as under Ansem's control, it seems almost like a different place.

The challenge I'd issued wasn't enough to bring him out though. I didn't doubt Data-Riku's claim he was here, he'd been right on that score. I just couldn't use that link he'd had to Ansem to find out where he was, not since he'd shifted the source of his darkness from Ansem to me.

In retrospect, if I'd known about that beforehand I would have asked Riku to come along with me for the whole journey through the datascape. I'm pretty sure he'd understand the reasons for it, and maybe it would have prevented some of the trouble along the way.

As it was, I was left to stalk warily up the beach with Roxas and Data-Riku trailing behind, the latter talking very quickly to reassure Roxas of something. I suspect it might have been more for his own benefit than Roxas's, since he couldn't feel anything.

_"Watch where you're going more carefully," _Ven told me. _"There's another wall between you and Riku's Rock."_

Don't ask me why he called it that. I suppose it is fairly accurate – Riku inevitably seems to be found there – but I'm fairly sure Ven was the first to call it Riku's Rock.

True to his word, there was a wall barring the path and no door on it. It was hard to tell exactly where the wall was. The sea and the sand continued unbroken past the unseen line, as we got closer to the trees and such further up the beach the same held true for them. It was only by reaching out for that unseen wall I was able to find it at last, following it around to try and find the door.

Naturally, the door for this room was the same one that only appears just before the storm comes to take the Islands, just before the cave down to the world's heart. I suppose I should have expected that.

That lead us not down to that door, but to the other side of the island with the obstacle course over it, setting us down near the far end of the course. It was much darker on this side, and also replete with Heartless that seemed to ignore both Roxas and Data-Riku, focusing on me. Most of them were Pureblood Heartless though, and with a few exceptions they can't hold a candle to their Emblem cousins.

They kept coming, oblivious to the fate of the other Heartless before them, which at least made it easier than having to chase after them. In that regard at least I prefer fighting Heartless. They don't run away, they can't disobey orders, and the don't stop fighting when you destroy the Heartless next to them.

* * *

><p>Now there's an interesting thought. If I wasn't so set against letting any Heartless set foot here, I suppose it's possible I could make use of an army like that to put a stop to all the foolishness in the world.<p>

Not that it'd last long. Besides, I'd have to stick around to keep giving them new orders for new situations, and that would get tedious after a time. That, and it'd take away the fun of people who like to laugh at politics.

Anyway.

* * *

><p>Roxas presented me with another interesting thought after we passed through the next door out onto the bridge that lead over to a vastly expanded version of Riku's Rock.<p>

"Why bother destroying them? It doesn't make any difference what happens to them, so why not just ignore them."

"I have a heart, Roxas," I replied in a pained tone. "So does Riku there."

"So? It seems to me that you can do things to prevent them from reaching us. Just do that and ignore them. They won't be able to get to us, and we don't have to deal with them."

Sometimes I wonder why I don't think of these things myself.

Ansem awaited us on the rock, staring out to sea.

"Easy," I warned Data-Riku, feeling him pull on my darkness again, this time coupled with an odd chill. I could actually feel him on the other end this time, and he was definitely afraid. "You'll probably want to stay out of this anyway. I need someone to keep Roxas safe."

"What makes you think I'm interested in him?" Ansem asked without bothering to turn around. "If I had known how susceptible you were, I would have changed my plans."

"Hindsight's a wonderful thing, isn't it?" I replied, crossing the bridge and gesturing to the others to remain behind. "Why don't we get down to cases? You don't like me, I don't like you, we're going to fight again, and you'll lose again. Did I miss anything out?"

"That hasn't been decided yet."

"Nonsense," I snorted. "You didn't present much of a challenge last time, and you aren't going to this time either."

"I have learned since the last time," he told me, half turning to bore into me with those yellow eyes. "I may merely be data, but you will not find me so easy an opponent this time. You may yet regret your decision to leave them behind."

"I've fought alone before," I shrugged. "This won't be any different."

Ansem didn't reply to that, he just raised one hand sharply. The supporting ropes for the bridge snapped off and with a great roaring groan the rock itself was torn free from the ground beneath and forced to rise high into the air.

I couldn't be bothered waiting for him to finish with that, but due to the size of the rock there was still some distance between us, so I cheated. Without even a gesture to suggest what I was doing, I sent out two spells. Graviga to the bottom of one side of the island, and its counterpart Zero Graviga to the other.

The rock tipped sharply, stopping in the air as Ansem scrambled to find something to grab. I simply stuck my Keyblade into the ground and held fast, keeping my spells in place as long as I could, keeping the rock moving, almost spinning in the air.

I don't recommend doing that yourself, by the way. It really upsets the body a bit.

Ansem had managed to grab hold of one of the trees that were still attached to the rock, but he appeared to need both hands to keep himself there. He looked ridiculous, hugging the trunk of a tree, but I suppose he was more concerned with not falling off.

I let that go on for a while, then to further bother him I sent Fire at the tree itself before I ran out of magic to keep the other two going. Without the two receiving magic, they faded and ceased, the rock stabilizing again. Disappointingly, Ansem was able to get off the burning tree before the flames reached him.

"Still here?" I asked pleasantly, then rushed him. He muttered a startled oath, swung one hand as if trying to summon a weapon, then looked chagrined when nothing appeared and quickly got out of the way before I reached him.

"Damn you, boy!" he shouted suddenly. "Riku was mine!"

There was no point in replying to that, I just reoriented on him and went after him again. I briefly pulled slightly on the darkness, but something else pulled it away from me again, preventing me from using it. I was going to have to find another way to do this, without darkness and with magic drained from my opening moves.

Ansem continued his delaying action, evading me where he could, disappearing and reappearing at various points over the islands. He seemed oddly defenceless without Data-Riku dependant on him, and he was either unwilling or unable to call the Guardian that usually accompanied him.

But his action never let me get close enough to reach him. I needed something, even if it was just enough to catch him and hold him still. If I couldn't reach him, maybe I could use something else to get to him from afar.

Then I remembered the cards that had been dropped after previous battles, and the most recent one I'd gained. The card for Wisdom form, if it allowed me access to the form the same way the Roxas one let me borrow from my Nobody again, would be perfect. It was that card I paused long enough to take out and activate, exchanging the usual blacks for the blues of the form.

"Really?" Ansem demanded. "You chose now for a change of wardrobe?"

"How's this for a change?" I retorted, swinging my Keyblade several times at him, each one launching a blue bolt at him. I was still running with no magic, denying me access to most of the useful parts of this form, but between those bolts and the ability to glide over the battlefield much quicker and with far less effort than I had been before, Ansem was having more trouble now.

He wasn't as defenceless as I'd thought when I got up close to him though. He cloaked one hand with darkness, extending it beyond his hand into a club, then further into an axe. I didn't get so close to him with that in his hand, cutting in when I could but always keeping just out of reach of it.

Actually striking at him, combined with the latent abilities of the form, restored my magic far quicker than normal. It would still be a while before I built up enough to be useful, but with any luck I felt I should have been able to get some decent magic out before I lost the form.

Ansem managed to catch me once, causing a very brief flare of darkness that was also quickly snatched away from me as I was thrown away from him by the blow. He was clearly irritated by the apparently ineffectiveness of this, muttering something I couldn't hear this time.

In response to whatever he'd said, a feather flashed into existance above him, floating gently down toward him. I froze when I saw it – Charlie had at last managed to break through Neku and in such a way that left no doubt he was an active enemy again.

When it touched on him, the dark axe he'd been holding was exchanged for the twinned ethereal blades that Xemnas and more recently Xehanort himself had been holding, around each of them red rings of pure energy.

"And that puts you in a tight spot, doesn't it?" Charlie's voice whispered in my ear again. "Oh, you have been busy, haven't you? But it won't save you, you know."

I ignored him, dipped briefly into the still refilling magic for a barrier, then continued my attack on Ansem. It wasn't so easy now he had two weapons, and it was further complicated by the more offensive approach he took. The only benefit was that the more I fought him, the quicker the magic restored.

Ansem got clear of me despite his more aggressive stance during the battle, jamming both blades into the rock to cause a strange grating crack to echo up through it. After a few moments of that, cracks started to appear on the rock itself, growing and splitting it up into many chunks drifting away from each other.

Wisdom form with its ability to glide, while nothing on the scale of what I could do with Final form, allowed me easy passage from chunk to chunk. Ansem found it considerably more troublesome, having to jump from each to each and hold me off. I don't think he thought that action through.

Then I knew I had a full tank of magic and drew back to gather it together, focusing it into a single powerful spell that would be grounded in thunder and fire magic, an idea taken from the first time I'd faced off against Neku and the explosions he'd created on command.

_"Not like that," _Ventus told me. _"Like this."_ There was an image in my mind after that of the spell as I'd envisioned it, but drawing from light alone. Aside from Esuna and Cure, I'd never really used light for magic before because it had a high cost to it and was more complex to cast, but if Ventus was nudging me toward it...

"What's wrong, Keyblade Master?" Ansem demanded, putting contempt into the title. "Had enough? Or have you just run out of things to try?"

"I'll give you something to try," I answered, then channelled the entire spell out through the Keyblade. Nothing happened first, until I swung it at him again. The bolt that erupted from it was a blazing gash of white in the air, shimmering as it whipped toward him with small tendrils of light reaching almost hungrily for him.

Then when I drew my Keyblade back up again, the bolt detonated into an immense ball of white light with a sound that was felt more than heard, the sliver of light becoming a sphere that illuminated everything so brightly I had to put my other arm up to shield my eyes from it. I imagine for Ansem it must have been like looking at a newborn sun rising in his face.

For good measure, and because I still had plenty of magic left to continue using the spell, I sent several more bolts out, detonating them similarly in the general area until once more I had nothing left. Then I waited until the afterglows faded enough to allow me to see again, spotted Ansem leaning against the charred stump of a tree in a bad shape, then charged him with a yell that I still can't really explain why I gave.

He looked up, startled, then felt the impact not of a Keyblade but of me slamming bodily into him. The tree had been near the edge of the rock, and the sheer force of the blow sent him flying hard off it.

Then as quickly as it had happened, the rock was back where it had started, all in one piece without Ansem on it. Data-Riku and Roxas quickly crossed the connecting bridge, which had also been repaired.

"What happened to Ansem?" Data-Riku demanded.

"Last time I saw him, he was trying to fly," I answered. He gave me a puzzled look, so I went on, "He wasn't doing all that well. If he doesn't learn to fly soon, I imagine he'll regret it."

"Do you think he'll learn in time?" Roxas asked. There was a splash behind me.

"I think I can safely the answer is no," I replied.


	32. Return of the Hunter

**A/N: **Warning - double-length chapter ahead. I did consider splitting it up into two pieces, but I couldn't find a suitable place to do so.

* * *

><p>The defeat of Ansem was not the final event of this floor, nor was it complete just yet. I may have thrown him off Riku's Rock and sent him for an involuntary diving trip, but he was not finished. He came to the surface coughing and spluttering, awkwardly struggling to keep himself afloat. Apparently he couldn't swim any better than he could fly.<p>

I had some idea that he wasn't entirely gone yet, but had nevertheless started to look for the next door. The commotion Ansem raised when he surfaced not only caught my attention, but directed me toward where the door was – directly beyond him.

"You haven't won yet," Ansem shouted. "If I can't beat you, I know one creature who can – the only one you've never truly defeated." He turned, floundered for a moment to spoil the dramatic effect of his statement, then reached out toward the door. Where it had been the same pristine white all the doors of Castle Oblivion before, now it flickered into a darker colour, almost like black marble.

The scent of darkness flared, a familiar scent that I knew only too well. I didn't need the confirming roar that blasted those doors open, picking up Ansem from the water and hurling him into the side of the rock, where he vanished at last. Oddly, the roar seemed not to affect the rest of us as it had him.

Beyond the door there lay a vast, empty blackness, marred only by the opposing door in the far distance that led to either the next room of this floor or the next white room between floors. It appeared to be empty, but I knew somewhere in that room there lay that familiar heartless that Roxas persists in calling the Hunter. Once more, it seemed it refused to let go of the grudge it still held, despite the last crushing defeat it had suffered.

Ansem had been right about one thing. I'd never actually beaten it, not properly. I'd escaped it the first time, just as Roxas had every time he encountered it. When I'd fought it previously in the datascape, I hadn't finished it off, only thrown it into the endless expanse below the platform. Defeated, but not destroyed like any other Heartless.

I simply froze the water between the rock and the door to make my way over, skating over it to save a bit of time. I didn't exactly do well at it, but at least I didn't fall into the water beside it like Data-Riku did. It was the first time I saw the first hint of emotion in Roxas, who had a faintly amused smile as he pulled him back out of the water, trying not to slip off himself.

No one passed through that door though, not even me. I stopped before the threshold and looked inside, taking in the area first. Given the vast size of the Hunter, I was fairly sure I'd be safe on this side of the door.

The room was completely black and completely empty. There was the sense of a great presence there, but no sign of it. The entire room, when taking into consideration the world as it had appeared so far, reminded me of the area in which I'd fought the World of Chaos, and so I tentatively reached across into the room with one foot, testing it for a floor. There wasn't any.

"I'm going to have to cheat again," I said to Neku, though he wasn't present in person.

"What do you need?" he asked, again using Data-Riku.

"I'm not entirely sure. It sort of depends on what you can do. A floor in the room would be helpful though."

He shook Data-Riku's head, "That's up to Castle Oblivion, not me. Influencing it is difficult at best, and dangerous in an area this close to you."

"In that case, I'm going to need a way of flying. Or at least, they are. I don't think my glider will respond to me again, not yet, but if that's the same area I think it is I'll be able to fly through it the same way I did when I was really there."

"I can allow Riku to borrow that from you, but Roxas is still completely immune to anything I can do. Of course, that means Charlie can't affect him either, but that's hardly useful right now."

"I don't know about that," I murmured, an idea starting to form. "I can discuss that later though, it's not relevant right now. Do you remember how Riku and Xion fought when we took on Xemnas?"

"Of course, but-" Neku broke off. "Oh, I see. I'll make a few arrangements. You'll have to go on alone first though. They'll have to stay on this side until I can get it sorted. But you're going to have to do something for me afterwards," he warned.

I took that in for a moment, then said, "You... need me for something? Care to explain?"

"I'll let you know afterwards. It's not technically me that needs you, it's Riku – the one upstairs, I mean. I kinda owe him a favour – no, I'm not telling you why – and now he's calling it in. I've managed to persuade him to wait until you clear that room and with it this floor. Now get moving, you've got enemies to fight."

I showed no outward sign of reaction to his words, but inside I had a suspicion forming. I know Neku well, he's usually very specific in his choice of words, and he'd clearly said 'enemies'. The Hunter was not alone.

With no show of hesitation though, I leapt into the air of that room, the long-unused Glide ability picked up so long ago still working as well as ever. It took me a few moments to get used to it again, but it's not unlike swimming in Atlantica. Having passed through that floor recently made it much easier.

When I'd entered, a pair of glowing red eyes had also entered the room, appearing ahead of me with a black shape that I did not exactly see, but knew must have been there as the door behind was covered by it.

"Back for more?" I said mildly to the eyes. "I suppose I can't blame you – at least here I can't bash you off the platform with your own chain, can I?" The eyes narrowed, becoming harsh slits of red. "Oh, was I not supposed to remind you of that? How inconsiderate of me. Why don't you show yourself, and then we'll get down to business."

There was an irritated sounding growl, then the red eyes filtered through shades of orange until they turned yellow, the form of the Hunter fading into visibility at the same rate. I'd forgotten just how big it was as it loomed almost right in front of me, stood on the insubstantial air.

It still showed signs of the previous battle though. The great gash that had been carved into its belly was no longer open, but it had scarred over at least. Behind one foreleg, the broken chain hung limply from the clamp where I'd broken it off and turned it against the great beast, though the other chain was still intact, the hook on the end hanging down below it. There was a look of flat hatred and malice over the almost wolf-like muzzle which continued to make a low growl that seemed to rumble up toward me.

Then it did something it had never done before, at least not in front of me. It turned away, the barbed tail covering its back to prevent me from taking advantage of it as it loped back a ways, then when it turned back it shimmered into three almost identical forms that bounded out separately. The only difference to them was in their colour, the center one still the same purple and indigo colours it had always been, while to my left was now a Hunter in more red shades than purples, and on the right another in varying hues of greens.

Two could play at that game I decided, but was prevented from doing anything about it immediately because all three of them headed right for me. I waited for them to get almost too close, then deliberately stopped using Glide and dropped like a stone, just far enough to put myself below the intangible floor the three Hunters were using.

I watched from below as they crashed into each other, momentum keeping them going for quite a ways, but I'd forgotten about the chains hanging down below them. They were already swinging wildly as the three of them had started running, but the massive collision had jerked them to a stop, and the momentum of each chain kept it going by itself. The three hooks crashed together first right below me, becoming entangled in each other, then the chains themselves caught up. One of them caught me, then the other two were there and I was suddenly in a mass of chains, not trapped in any of them but batted between them as they whipped around.

The chains obscured my view, making it impossible to tell what was going on outside the entanglement, and the only way I could do anything about my immediate situation was to grab hold of one of the links in whichever chain came first to hand, then carefully weave my way around it to the other side of the link, then out the other side. The thought of using magic to escape the situation never occurred to me.

Once I was clear I made sure the chains weren't going to come back at me again and looked up to see the three Hunters looking back at me. They were awkwardly trying to free their chains, but on seeing me they all roared, an ear-splitting sound with all three of them at it, then stopped and looked puzzled.

I couldn't figure out why, so went a ways from them. They followed, but only to the point that they were above me again, the mass of chains rattling and clinking away beneath them. Still they remained above me, watching me while jerking their legs to try and free the chains.

Data-Riku and Roxas were still on the other side of the doorway, so whatever was puzzling them wasn't caused by them. I was fairly sure Neku would have told me if he was doing anything, and there was no feather or leaf that suggested either of the two known books was involved.

Then one of them pawed at the ground, lowering its head to and trying to bite at something that wasn't there, and I realized what was puzzling them and laughed. The Hunter had managed to find a way to prevent a repeat of the last encounter, but it still thought in two dimensions, and still required a floor, even one that existed only for it, to stand on. It could not go up or down, even if the remaining chain and hook did. I on the other hand, could.

They weren't completely incapable of reaching me though. Each of them lifted their muzzle in unison and howled, causing the darkness to be lit up – not that there was anything _to_ light up – by three massive fireballs, each one descending toward me. However, they were still in the way of it, and each one of them tried to run in a different direction. The real Hunter finally got irritated with this and drew the two images back into itself so it could escape the incoming magic.

I decided since it had provided me with the means to fight unfairly, I was going to pick that up and run with it. Why waste my magic by hurling it at the Hunter, when I could turn its own magic back on it? I used an assortment of Aero magic at various levels to influence the direction of each fireball, slowing two of them so they would reach me later, then as the first one approached I cast more magic into the Keyblade, a spell that had parts taken from Aero, Magnet, Gravity and Reflect. If I'd done it right, when I hit the fireball with the Keyblade the spell would transfer to the fireball, which would then use the various parts of each spell along with my will picking its target to redirect it back at the caster.

The first fireball loomed, and I swung at it to return it to its sender. The fireball stopped on impact, grew slightly, then exploded into a blazing sheet of fire, expanding outward in a great orange sphere until the magic burned itself out, along the way engulfing the other two fireballs and causing a similar, though lesser reaction in both of them.

Data-Riku and Roxas, though protected from the effect on the other side of the door, hastily got clear of the door. My ice bridge there had long since melted, but Data-Riku apparently knew enough magic to keep them both from having to swim. Even so, they jumped off it anyway, but the fire did not pass through.

The Hunter on the other hand, turned and fled from the wall of fire rapidly encroaching on it. It ran for quite some time, seeming to shrink into the distance, before it finally found the far wall of the immense room, crashing headlong into it. It got back up, shaking its head to clear the daze, then turned and looked with wide, yellow eyes as the fire threw it into that wall a second time.

Neku's aid for the others turned up then, a copy of the flying mech that Xion had piloted alongside Riku that flew in from behind me to pause by the door. Data-Riku hesitated for a moment, then said something to Roxas, who protested but eventually took the controls. I hoped one of them could figure out how to fly it, because at that point my attention was distracted by a roar that sounded nothing like the Hunter's, more like a screech.

Behind me, rising up out of the dark depths of the room was Ansem, but he was not alone. He rose intertwined with the World of Chaos that I had fought and destroyed once before, and unlike the Hunter, it could and did work in all three dimensions. The Hunter might have been limited, but they were not. Now I had enemies on both side of me to worry about.

"Neku, if you can help, I could really do with it right now!" I muttered fervently. I might have been able to handle one of the two, even without help, but I had my doubts about taking on both the World of Chaos and the Hunter at the same time.

Neku did not respond, of course. He was still limited to having to work through someone else, who at the moment was limited to Data-Riku. I had to come up with a plan and hope it didn't interfere with anything he was doing, if anything.

The Hunter, I decided, was the more immediate threat. Not only did it have a grudge against me that was no doubt growing with every attack thwarted, but it had remained the only Heartless I could not defeat in a short time. The World of Chaos, while my memory of the battle with it was sketchy at best, I was fairly sure had not been much of a challenge. It could wait and become the secondary target for now.

As if to react to that decision, Roxas turned the mech by the door and piloted it down toward the World of Chaos, Data-Riku already brandishing Soul Eater ready for a fight. They could handle it for now.

The Hunter meanwhile was already running back toward me, for all the good it would do it. It still could not reach my directly as long as I remained away from the floor it had to use and I was wary of the remaining hooked chain.

As long as I remained away from it though, there was only so much I could do. Magic was all well and good, but it always had taken a more supporting role. This called for something more powerful, and I absolutely refused to dip into the darkness with these two around.

I rose up above it so I'd be clear of the chain, then quickly reached for the cards I'd been collecting, searching through them for one that I'd yet to use inside the castle, and outside had rarely seen any use at all. It was, of course, the card for Valour form, granting considerable strength and like any form except for Wisdom, allowing me to keep my second Keyblade. I was hoping here that would allow me to take up a second one again – or maybe something else.

"I know you can't respond," I told the empty air, "But I need you to steal the changes Roxas made for the forms so I can borrow the Organization's weapons in any form, even exchange them for whatever weapons I'm holding at the time. I won't need it right away, but it'd be helpful if you could get on it."

I got a faintly positive feeling, possibly the only way Neku could let me know he'd understood and done something, then without any further delay I tossed out the card for the form. As I'd hoped, Valour form called a second Keyblade into my hand. Not my own Gilded Light, not Riku's Way to the Dawn which he was probably using upstairs anyway, but Mickey's Kingdom Key D. The first and, to date, only time I ever held that Keyblade.

Glide ceased to work the moment Valour form had taken effect though, leaving me to drop down to the same floor the Hunter was using. As it realized that, it bounded eagerly toward me, flattening the tail behind it to streamline it. I landed hard, since the form doesn't allow for any magic I could have used to handle my descend, but had enough time to know what was coming. My breath whooshed out of me as I landed, but after only a few moments to recover I was back on my feet and, much to its surprise, charging right for the Hunter.

It skidded to a stop, turning around as it closed to try and lash at me with the tail, but I avoided the first strike by leaping over it, and the second by crossing my two Keyblades and blocking the tail. Once the force behind it had faded, I quickly uncrossed them and struck out, causing the Hunter to howl in pain and quickly round back onto me, this time rising onto its rear legs to drag the chain up and swing it at me. That too was smashed aside, drawing on the extra physical power I could put behind the strikes to send it swinging up and back at the Hunter itself. I couldn't make it reach the head, but I did manage to get it toward the scarred belly, where one of the hooks caught and lodged itself. The Hunter dropped back down with another howl as the tender wound was reopened.

Unusually for me, I capitalized on that and went on the offensive. Big as it was, there were still ways to reach and attack it that it couldn't and probably wouldn't ignore. First I aimed for the leg that still had the chain attached to it, dashing in and striking out with everything I could muster against it, calling on the full power of the form to dish out powerful blows. The clamp that held the chain on withstood the blows I rained on it with one Keyblade, while the Hunter drew back every time the other one caught the leg itself, trying to get back far enough that it could bite at me.

It swiped at me with the other paw, knocking me clear of that leg, but the damage had been done. There were large cracks starting to show in the clamp, and a few more blows would disarm it of that chain too.

Again I headed back in for it, striking out where I could as it sluggishly learned and started to bar my attempts to go for the feet. I changed tactics on it and got up on top of it, running down its scaly back to the back legs and attacking the joint. The Hunter really didn't like that, and after I'd done enough to both it ploughed to the ground, having to drag itself along on the front legs only.

I went back in for another frontal assault, narrowly escaping getting caught by a barrage of artillery fire from the World of Chaos as it and the others shot overhead. Without the aid of the rear legs, the Hunter was much slower and had a harder time evading me, allowing me to break the second chain free, causing it to drop down into the depths. Then I prepared to tackle the head itself.

The Hunter evidently decided enough was enough though. It struggled to push itself up, then faded back out again as the yellow eyes turned red again. When those eyes closed, the sense of the Hunter's presence was once again gone, leaving me knowing that it would, someday, come back and try again unless someone managed to destroy it for good – if it even could be destroyed.

My attacks on it had left me winded though, and both arms ached from all the work they'd done. Valour form had done it's job, cancelling out and allowing me to run a quick healing spell over myself – and because I had enough magic, Data-Riku and Roxas too – but the weariness was still there.

"I hear you needed a hand," Sora's voice said from behind me. I turned in the air to see him floating in the air beside me, a leaf in one hand and his Keyblade, this time in the form of Rumbling Rose, in the other. Unlike his earlier appearance where he'd worn his original outfit, this time he wore the same magic clothes I did. "Take a break," he told me. "Let me handle this one for you."

"Knock yourself out," I replied thankfully. I really needed a rest, and Sora did know what he was doing.

I hadn't been following the battle between Data-Riku and Roxas, so couldn't really tell how far along they were. There were clear signs of their attacks along either side where the organic artillery had mostly been mopped up, but few other signs.

Once Sora glided over to them to join in, the battle quickly turned sour for Ansem too. The last of the artillery were mopped up, then he led them in an attack against the massive face of the World of Chaos, which between the Keyblade and the magic they directed at it, even some darkness that Data-Riku took off me, didn't really last long.

I lost sight of them when they headed into the core of the World of Chaos, then got distracted by a flock of Bit Snipers that had decided to pester me. A few quick chained Thunder spells sparked through their ranks and decimated them however, and by the time that was over the trio above were already busily handling Ansem himself. To say the least, Ansem was having a hard time.

In short order the World of Chaos was destroyed, leaving Ansem in the air looking accusingly from Sora to me. He said nothing, fading away the same way the Hunter had before any of us had the chance to finish him off.

"Really, Liam," Sora said as the three of them joined me by the door. "Can't you do anything yourself? You _are_ meant to be an all-powerful Keyblade Master, aren't you?"

"Sometimes I wonder whether it's too much trouble to keep to that reputation," I muttered, then opened the door to leave what I knew now had not been the Destiny Islands, but the End of the World.


	33. Swap and Split

"Just what are you doing here, Sora?" I asked somewhat bluntly as we left the floor.

"I told you – lending a hand. I got word that you felt you needed some, so I made arrangements to show up. There's another reason too, of course," he confided when the door closed. "People remember the both of us in most worlds, but we never actually did go along together. Probably about time I actually joined you on one of your adventures."

"Why didn't you just ask?"

"I didn't know you were going on another one."

"Defeated by my own actions then. What _do_ you want?" I asked irritably, finally giving in to Roxas's persistent tapping my shoulder.

"You left this behind," he answered and handed me another card. I glanced at it momentarily, noting in passing it was not a card for any form or ability, but with Xaldin's lances and Marluxia's scythe on them.

"Useful," I murmured in passing. "Alright Neku, I suppose you'd better tell me what's going on upstairs and what Riku needs me for."

"Wait, isn't that..." Sora broke off, looking at Data-Riku, but Neku had already started to talk through him again.

"No, this is just the data of Riku," he told Sora. "You can ask for explanations in a moment. You're going to have to do something you probably won't like, Liam."

"It won't be the first time," I sighed. "Go on, get it out and over with."

"Data-Sora has gone too far. The false memories they're giving him have changed his opinions to the point where he's almost ready to side with the Organization – or rather, their data counterparts here. That by itself is trouble on it's own, but the darkness your Heartless gave him is making things worse. I won't go into the details of everything he's up to, but Riku's concerned enough that he wants you to step in."

"What does he want me to do about it? I've got my own problems down here, in case you've forgotten."

"You're a Keyblade Master, remember?" Neku said. "It doesn't matter what Keyblade you hold, there are some abilities you have as a Master that you can always put to use. It's one of those that you're going to have to use, and that's what you won't like."

"Just spit it out, will you?"

Neku sighed and muttered something in the language that apparently none of us knew, then finally answered. "You're going to have to split his heart into two, like Xehanort did to Ventus."

There was a long silence after that. I didn't say anything myself because while he was right in that I wouldn't like it, I could see the necessity of it. At least I could take the more powerful, darker side of him away and at least try to do something about it.

Roxas didn't show any change of expression of course, and Data-Riku was being overridden by Neku, so it was naturally Sora that found his voice again first.

"Have you completely lost your mind? If it works the same way it did for Ventus, you'll bring back the Unversed!"

"Now there's a thought," I mused. "Perhaps if the dark side of him could be tamed, we could make use of them too. I'm already working with Heartless and Nobodies, it'd be one more thing to surprise my Heartless with."

"Don't tell me you're actually considering this," Sora demanded.

"It depends entirely on the outcome. It isn't going to be among the things I'll be proud or happy about having done, but it does solve the immediate problem. We'll have to keep him away from the data you, and find someone to shelter his heart too. It'll probably get shattered the same way Ven's did."

"Sora can do that," Neku said. "I might have to make a few changes to Sora, with his permission, but it should work best that way. Data-Sora will be back on his feet much quicker if Sora will let us do that."

"And what if this dark side of him doesn't listen to you?"

"Don't start with what-if's, Sora," I sighed. "One thing at a time. The next issue is how am I going to go up there? I'm leading this party down here, and Riku's a companion up there. There's at least a dozen floors between us, if not more."

Neku grinned broadly at me, taking his book out of the pocket I stored it in and creating a pen out of thin air in Data-Riku's other hand.

"Three guesses, Liam," was all he said.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. You'll have to persuade Riku, you know."

"It was his idea," Neku replied. "He also said, 'Tell Liam if he doesn't do it, you're to take your book up to me and I'll do it myself.'"

Sora must have caught on at that point, because he suddenly doubled over in helpless laughter.

"Do you _mind_?" I asked him acidly.

"What's wrong, Liam?" Neku said angelically. "I'd have thought you'd jump at the chance." I refused to answer that, taking the book and pen off him, then stalking away muttering to myself. "I can still hear you, you know."

"Well don't listen then," I snapped back. "I assume he's ready and waiting up there."

"You mean you don't want to surprise him?"

"Will you stop that?"

Neku laughed, then answered, "He's waiting in the white room between floors. Axel's with them, providing a distraction. He isn't in on the plan at all, he just knows Riku's conscripting you in to handle things."

"How nice of him to leave explaining it all up to me."

I wasn't nearly as irritated about the idea as I sounded. Like the solution to Data-Sora, I could see the reasons for it. It was more having him spring the surprise of if on me that made me seem so irritable.

So eventually I stopped complaining to myself, flicked open Neku's book and wrote just one line, very similar to the very first words I'd put in there.

'I found myself in Riku's body.'

Then with a quick afterthought I added underneath, 'And Riku will be able to undo it afterwards.'

Just below that, right before my view faded, I saw Neku write, 'Spoilsport.'

* * *

><p>Of course I had certain opinions about writing those words, particularly since they involved someone I had a crush on, and yes of course I had more than a few temptations as well. I'm not going to go into them here though.<p>

For the second time, I found myself in a body that was not mine. At least this time it was deliberate, I suppose. Riku's quite a bit taller than I am though, and for someone used to being short that can be a bit disorienting. Fortunately Riku had the foresight to wait leaning against one of the walls of the white room, arms crossed.

I glanced up, brushing aside some of Riku's hair to see Data-Sora and Axel at opposite ends of the room, apparently trading insults. Axel's eyes kept flicking over toward me, I assumed to see some sign that I was there now.

Data-Sora looked no different to how I remembered him, still wielding his pixellated Oblivion and still looking for all the world like Sora in his original outfit.

"What would you know?" he was demanding of Axel. "You don't even have a heart!"

"Like you're any better! You've let that much darkness in your heart it might as well not be there!" Axel retorted.

"Oh, and you'd know all about that – the only time you touch the darkness is to get around. You're too afraid to try and use it for anything else!"

"No heart, remember? I can't be afraid."

"I think that's just about enough of that," I interrupted, having seen enough. I sounded like Riku of course, but at the same time I didn't sound like him. It was his voice, but I have a different accent to him which sounded a bit odd with his voice.

Axel immediately knew what that meant, giving me a sly wink as Data-Sora whirled to turn on me.  
>"Who's side are you on, Riku?" he demanded.<p>

"Guess again," I replied, then called my Keyblade. I wasn't entirely certain if I'd take up Riku's or mine, but the Keyblade of People's Hearts, complete with the two missing pieces, appeared in my hand.

"You!" Data-Sora snarled.

"Oh, stop that. If I'd come here to attack you, I'd have done it already. I've had enough of that downstairs as it is, and I've no wish to continue the trend for now."

Data-Sora had other ideas, however. He launched himself at me, Oblivion already descending. I knocked Oblivion aside then hit him with Fira. At point blank range, the magic force behind that can throw someone quite a distance, as he found out.

He came up spitting curses at me that he must have picked up from me during our trip to Agrabah earlier, so before he got too far I hit him with the fusion of Stop and Slow that left him frozen in place.

"Did you want to play some more?" I asked him. Since the magic was still on him, he couldn't answer so I went on, "I didn't think so. Now stay put while I decide what to do with you."

"You've got a brutally direct method, Liam," Axel noted. "Oh, by the way – Riku said I should tell you it's really me, not the one from here. I got to take his place."

"Nice of someone to let me know these things. When did he bring you in?"

"When you reached Castle Oblivion, of course. Demyx is sulking because he didn't get to come along."

"Figures. Alright, this is what we're going to do."

"We?" Axel asked.

I gave him a look, then corrected, "I. What I'm going to do. Sora – the real Sora that is – has been volunteered to make sure we don't lose you entirely," I told Data-Sora. "You'll still be here, of course, but I'm going to do something that'll strip you of that darkness you got given. Axel here, if he doesn't mind, is going to change sides and stick around afterwards with you and Riku to make sure you don't turn suicidal on us, and to make sure no one else tries to get rid of you."

"Just what are you going to do to him?" Axel asked. "You still haven't told us."

"You'll see when I do it in a moment." I paused, then added, "Assuming I do it right. I've never done this before."

Despite the spell on him, Data-Sora managed to look very afraid as I levelled my Keyblade at him. I had no idea how exactly Xehanort had done this, so I improvised based on what I knew and just willed it to do what I wanted.

The spell negated when the white beam impacted Data-Sora, throwing him again up against one wall. Unlike Ventus, who had already been comatose when Xehanort did this, Data-Sora was fully conscious and aware of what was going on. He writhed underneath that steady beam, reaching for it only to draw back his hand in pain where the light reacted with the darkness in him.

That same darkness reacted to the beam as well, drawn up and seemingly driven out of him. First he glowed with a dark aura as it was brought to the surface, then it was pushed away from him into a ring around him. He reached out for it even as tendrils of darkness tried to reach back for him, but the light wouldn't let either one reconnect.

Then there was an awful wrenching sound that I suspect only I heard. Data-Sora screamed once, then fell unconscious. The beam from my Keyblade dropped off, dropping him to the floor but leaving the darkness hovering in the air. It was drawn over to my Keyblade, then when I waved it to one side the darkness marshalled into a physical form, becoming more and more distinct.

Perhaps because I'd been thinking of him as I'd done it, the form that emerged looked like Vanitas, complete with that mask of his as it became more and more defined, finally sighing its first breath when the now-solid feet touched the floor.

"Master," it murmured, even having the same voice as Vanitas.

I paid it little attention though, struck by just what I'd done. He might have been just data, but Data-Sora was a sentient, living being as well. And I'd just shattered his heart. It didn't matter that I'd had good reasons for it, it was a dreadful thing to do.

I probed gently at Data-Sora's recumbent form with my own darkness and found it stubbornly resisted my touch with a searing light. There was no way to tell if Sora had guarded his heart the same way Ven's had been with that blocking me out.

Eventually, I turned to Axel. "Stay with him," I told him. "Riku will return when I go back downstairs in a moment, the same way I came."

"And him?" Axel inquired quietly, pointing at the newly formed being behind me.

"He'll come with me. He has to come with me. It'll be bad for the both of them if they both stay up here." I looked at the dark side of Data-Sora for a moment, then recalling that Xehanort had named Vanitas, I did the same here – though much less eloquently. "Your name is Vanitas," I told him, not feeling up to being creative enough to name him. "And you do what I tell you do, because if you don't I'll bully you into it."

"Bully? You?" Axel sounded amused.

"Alright, so maybe I won't, but I'll make your life bad at least."

"When do you leave?"

"When Riku writes in Neku's book to put him and me back in the right places. Tempting as it might be to stay."

"Or when I let you." It was the voice of my Heartless.


	34. Waiting Room

With the arrival of my Heartless the situation changed entirely. I had wanted this to be no more than a brief distraction, a side task to take care of before carrying on. Now I had Data-Sora stripped of all darkness, lying on the floor not far from Axel, the newly created Vanitas formed from all that darkness I'd taken from him next to me, and my Heartless in front of the doors from the floor Data-Sora had just passed through.

"Riku can write the words to put us back in the right places at any time," I told Anti-Liam. "You can't stop that."

"He won't do that though. He knows that without Sora there, he and Axel are no match for me – even if you left your new pet there behind."

"Pet?" Vanitas objected.

"Let it lie," I told him. "You won't risk a confrontation with me either though. Every time you've shown up here so far, I've given you a sound beating. What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"You're here, but that isn't your body," he pointed out. "The Samurais won't recognise you. The Heartless might, but I figured out how you managed to get around that. They have to answer to the Samurais."

"Samurais are more perceptive than you give them credit for," Axel put in. "It's entirely possible they'll know who he is no matter what body Liam is in, or what he looks like."

"Axel has a good point," I agreed. "Are you really going to gamble on that on point?"

Anti-Liam hesitated for a brief moment, then must have decided to chance it because he quickly called his cards to hand. I followed suit, keeping my Keyblade in the other hand, but Vanitas took matters into his own hands at that point. He came past me, taking my Keyblade off me and murmuring, "Leave this to me, Master."

I noticed in passing that the Keyblade was shorter than it had been before. Another piece missing maybe, this time from the blade itself? And if it was, who had it released this time?

I also noticed that unlike myself and Data-Sora, Vanitas was left-handed. It wasn't really all that important, but it was the first time I recalled seeing anyone in these parts wield their weapon left-handed – those who need to use two hands excepted.

"You?" my Heartless asked incredulously. "You're going to try me? You're not even a few minutes old!"

"So?" he answered calmly, continuing his steady advance.

"You don't have any cards either, you can't challenge me without them!"

"So?" Vanitas repeated.

Anti-Liam quickly searched his deck, picking out two blue cards and a green one, then throwing the three at Vanitas together. Dark Firaga erupted from them, but the dark side of Data-Sora ignored it entirely. It passed right through him without any effect in the slightest.

"Now that's interesting," I murmured. "The cards don't affect him."

He raised my Keyblade against my Heartless, who hastily summoned his own dark Keyblade to defend himself, then froze in place. I'd seen this trick used once before by Data-Riku back in Hollow Bastion, only this time I saw Vanitas reappear behind Anti-Liam and assault him from behind. He got in several blows before Anti-Liam recovered and turned to defend himself at last.

While his back was turned to me, I stole his idea and took a few magic cards from my own deck to further bother him. I didn't bother combining them the same way he did, nor did I check what they were beyond making sure I wasn't going to waste defensive magic. Between the two of us, we still needed the cards, it was only Vanitas that didn't need to bother.

When I ran out of magic I decided to lend a hand and start using the attack cards. It's probably just as well Vanitas was forcing Anti-Liam to use his real Keyblade, which was useless against me, because like I mentioned, being taller than you're used to really is disorienting. It upsets your coordination just a bit.

Anti-Liam started to respond in kind but was having trouble remembering which Keyblade was which and which to use on who, making more than a few mistakes. His darkened Gilded Light came my way several times, but the blows bounced ineffectively off me just as the card-summoned ones did off Vanitas. He did get it right sometimes, but usually only by coincidence, and the two of us were keeping better track of which was which, defending ourselves easily.

The outcome was fairly predictable. Once it became clear he wasn't going to get anywhere, he turned and fled into a dark corridor yet again.

"How disappointing," Vanitas remarked. "I was just beginning to enjoy myself too."

"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked him curiously.

"I'm a part of him," he shrugged, pointing at Data-Sora. "Anything he knows how to do, I know too. A bit like being a Nobody, I imagine. It saved a bit of time having to learn everything."

"Useful. I think we're about done here now. Riku should be paying attention, he'll put us back in a moment. Try and keep him out of trouble, won't you?" I asked Axel.

"Isn't that what I'm here for? Watch out downstairs, by the way. Vexen thinks Zexion is up to something, and Vexen's been going around with a self-satisfied smirk that says he's got something up his sleeve too."

"Just what I need – something else to worry about. Alright Riku, lets get on with this," I announced to the air, hoping he was reading Neku's book downstairs.

Nothing happened. After a time, Vanitas spoke up. "Taking his time, isn't he? Unless it's meant to take time."

"No, it shouldn't. You should be able to use the corridors," I told him. "Run on down there and find out what's going on will you?"

"Whatever you say, Master."

"And stop calling me that. I have a name, you know."

"He's gone off with your Keyblade you know," Axel told me as the corridor closed behind him. "If something comes up..."

"I can handle it," I dismissed the issue. "If _he_ shows up again I have to use the cards anyway. Anything else I can use magic for."

"You're bothered by this, aren't you?"

"Wouldn't you be? Anything could be going on down there. Riku's down there in my body with the companions going with me – the data version of him, the real Sora and a version of Roxas that doesn't appear to have ties to anyone we know, doesn't have a heart, and acts like a zombie."

"Sounds just like Roxas used to be, way back. How do you know he hasn't got a heart?"

"Ventus told me so. What _is_ taking him so long? All he needed to do was go there, have a look and come back again."

"Interference, probably. Xehanort, Charlie, maybe even your Heartless again. Neku filled me in on the basics," he explained, seeing my curious glance and unspoken question. "How long will Sora be out for?"

"I've no idea," I admitted. "Ven regained consciousness – sort of – when he made contact with Sora and had his heart restored, but very little is known after that, not to mention how long it took Xehanort to take him from the Keyblade Graveyard to Destiny Islands."

"Ask him?" Axel suggested, crouching near Data-Sora as if to examine him.

"Somehow I don't think he'd answer. He tends to keep to himself unless he's got something useful to say. Helped me out a bit downstairs, but he's never really said all that much. Seems a bit odd for him, when I met him in person he wasn't like that."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. Back in Radiant Garden, there's something I remembered. I went up against him in a mock-fight once. That was you with him, wasn't it? Watching with Isa, I mean."

"You're only just now realizing that? What is going on down there?" I muttered irritably. The wait was starting to worry me. What if Axel had been right – what if it was my Heartless? Without me on hand, there were no cards for them to use against him. That said, it was only against me he had to use them, they would have to deal with him the usual way.

"Why not go down there and have a look?" Axel suggested. "It's not like Riku's body is a stranger to the darkness, you know. He's used corridors before, just take one down there yourself."

"And leave you unattended with him? What if someone shows up to try and finish him off while I'm there? Besides," I added, pausing for a moment. "I don't know how it's done. I've never needed to create one."

"Bit of an oversight there. You should be just as safe as Riku is using one, so long as you control your darkness."

"Yeah, don't know if Neku told you, but that's kinda why we're here in Castle Oblivion. I'm trying to use it to get that control back again after it got a bit upset earlier."

"Don't you ever do anything without getting yourself in some kind of trouble?"

"Hey, who's the hero in these parts – trouble's meant to follow me around."

"Don't I know it," Axel muttered. He clearly remembered the times after he'd turned on the Organization and joined me. "He's starting to stir, Liam," he called quickly not long after.

I don't know what he thought I could do. I joined him all the same as Data-Sora started to slowly regain consciousness. It was a very slow process though, at first he just gave a few low groans, staring blankly, uncomprehendingly. It was hard to say if Sora had protected his heart or what side effects it would have on him.

"Is he alright?" Axel murmured.

"Too soon to tell," I replied. "He's awake, but it looks like his mind is elsewhere. All we can do is wait... both for him and the other side of him to get back up here."

While we waited, I briefly searched Data-Sora to find what world cards he had and, if he'd been using the cards in battle too, what he'd done about his deck. I found plenty of map cards, a world card for Halloween Town by itself, but no battle cards. I did find a pixellated chain for his Keyblade he hadn't told me about, one which after a moment I identified as being the one for Ultima Weapon. Why had he elected to use Oblivion over it?

I didn't have the chance to pursue that line of thought however, because Data-Sora seemed to come alive, his mind catching up with his body and waking up as he snatched it off me. He stared at me a moment, then fear crept into his expression and he pushed himself up and away, putting Axel between us.

"What's up with you?" Axel asked him.

"Keep him away from me!" Data-Sora replied, his voice verging on shrill. "I don't care how, just don't let him anywhere near me again!"

"Really?" I demanded in exasperation. "I do something to get rid of the darkness corrupting you, and this is how you react?"

"What you did was dreadful. Anything, I mean _anything_ would have been better than that."

"I did what was necessary," I shrugged. "Now stop that cowering, I'm not going to do anything else to you."

Data-Sora did not look convinced, finally pushing himself up off the floor but refusing to come any closer at all.

"What did you do with him, anyway? Don't pretend you don't know who I mean, I know exactly what you did. Where is he?"

"Downstairs. I sent him there to find out why Riku and I haven't been changed back yet, except he hasn't returned yet. Axel suggested running on down there myself, but I can't leave you unattended at the moment. You're still recovering, and I'd rather have Axel and Riku around to keep an eye on you, but since Riku isn't here I'm having to fill in for him."

"I don't want your questionable protection. I'm going to the next floor – without you."

"No, you're not," Axel told him firmly. "You heard him. You're still recovering. I've been drafted in to keep watch over you, and I won't let you take the risk. You either go with Liam, or you wait here until Riku gets back."

"How do you plan to stop me?"

Axel glanced at the door to the next floor, frowned, then a firewall barred the path.

"That's not fair!" Data-Sora protested.

"Oh, stop whining will you?" I said irritably. "I thought you were meant to be based off me. Start showing it, will you?"

"If it means I'm going to do things like you did, I don't want to be anything like you any more."

I turned on him then, my patience exhausted. "You don't want to be like me, fine. See if I care. But the way I see it I had two options – either I did what I've done, or I delete you. That would erase the Journal stored in you, but it would also rid you of that darkness and all the changed memories Naminé has been feeding you on Marluxia's command. Would you rather I'd done that? Now stop your complaining and do as you're told, or I'll change my mind and delete you right here and now."

Even Axel looked slightly stunned at the outburst of temper, but it had the effect I wanted. Data-Sora still cowered, keeping away from me, but he did give in, sinking back down to wait – either for Vanitas to return, or for one of us to lose patience and decide to keep him moving on up here.

But what was going on down there that was delaying the return, and why hadn't Vanitas come back?


	35. Misdirected

I don't know how long we waited up there for sure. Data-Sora absolutely refused to move on while I was still around, though he at least stopped being so obvious with his feelings. He kept to himself, watching me in case I tried anything again.

Axel just leaned against one wall in a half-doze. I passed the time considering all the possible what-ifs of the situation, and coming up with some ridiculous theories. There are better ways to spend your time than gnawing on your own liver.

Eventually I lost patience, rousing Axel with an outburst of, "For gods sakes, I've had enough of this. Axel, make yourself useful. I want a corridor going down to-" I paused, thinking for a moment then went on, "to the white room between the fifth and sixth floors from the bottom of the castle."

"You're going to leave him unattended?" Axel asked calmly, waving an arm vaguely toward Data-Sora.

"No, I'm going to run down there and find out what's going on down there. You two are going to stay up here and get moving, and if you let anything happen to him you'll be answering to me."

"Whatever you say," Axel agreed.

"Don't patronize me, just get on with it before anything else goes wrong around here."

Data-Sora, probably wisely, decided not to say anything as Axel opened the corridor. As I passed through it into the corridor proper though, I'm sure I heard him say, "I thought he'd never leave. It's what Charlie-" and that was all I heard. Some of the what-ifs I'd thought up started seeming more likely.

Dark corridors are interesting things. On the inside they look a lot like the Lanes Between in some ways, which stands to reason since they do pass through them. Not in the sense you're thinking about though.

Irritated as I was, I put the walk through that corridor to use by investigating them, finding out how they actually work – they pass through the Lanes Between for the Realm of Darkness. Not technically into that realm, but they use it as a kind of shortcut. It saved me going through every floor between me and where I'd left off.

A cursory glance when I exited told me the white room I had been in before was now deserted. The pristine whiteness of the room gave no hint about which way they had gone or what had transpired in the moments between causing the switch and sending Vanitas to investigate.

I'd had no world cards left on me, so it seemed unlikely that they'd gone to the next floor. I eliminated the possibility entirely by testing the door, only to find it was locked. No way they'd passed through here.

That left only one possibility – they'd gone back the way I'd come. The exit door to each floor, though I'd never made use of it myself, should have remained unlocked to allow for any backtracking that anyone wanted to do. The door opened easily, but it did not open to show the End of the World.

It showed another empty white room. Nothing there but a door opposite.

I stared into that room for some time, trying to reason my way through it. Could Axel have made a mistake? As far as anyone knows, he'd never ventured into the basements of Castle Oblivion, but surely he must have been as conversant with it as any other member assigned there. A mistake seemed unlikely. Had it been me that had created the corridor I could have blamed it on my own inexperience, or perhaps the lack of control over my darkness, but I'd had Axel do it. Again, an unlikely possibility.

What else did that leave? If this was the right floor and the right room, why was the room behind blank? Did this data world clear floors of the Castle after they were done with? That seemed unlikely, they'd just be loaded up again as necessary.

The possibility finally occurred to me that there might have been a mistake made, not in the destination floor, but the destination itself. Had Axel inadvertently sent me to the real Castle Oblivion? I had no way to get back from that with my current options. No Glider, no Keyblade and a corridor was completely out of the question until I knew which Castle Oblivion this was, let alone that if I did try to use one I'd have to figure out how to do it without any outside help at all, never mind keeping it under control so it wouldn't harm me.

Before I went anywhere or did anything though, I made sure of one thing. "I assume none of you can hear me?" I asked the empty rooms. If Neku or the Samurais could reach me, surely they'd respond to that. The silence was oppressive, however.

I muttered a bit to myself about that, but there wasn't anything I could do. Vanitas had my Keyblade and in his hand it refused to respond to me. Riku, wherever he was, had Neku's book and the only people around who could lend a hand. All I had were the collected cards from the castle, my magic and my darkness. The only thing I could do was backtrack through the Castle and hope to find something that would tell me if this was the data or real Castle Oblivion or what was going on.

The castle's white rooms seemed to go on endlessly. Always uniform in size, shape and appearance. More than once I lost count of how many rooms I'd passed through. At least going through them from the end to the start, they didn't need me to use my stock of map cards.

I should have picked up on that though. I've had a chance to play Chain of Memories again lately, and found that backtracking through previously visited floors still needs them as guidance. But as usual, I never think of these things until after the fact.

That floor passed by eventually, leading to the previous white room. Not that it looked any different, of course. The door closed behind me and locked itself, denying me any return that way. Since there was no other option I shrugged it off and continued on to the previous floor again. Like the last, it too was just another blank, white room.

I started to grow suspicious then. There were no traces of anyone having been here before at all. After another empty floor and another door locking itself behind me I decided I wasn't going to get anywhere like this.

Someone had intervened, that much was obvious. The question was not so much where or when, but what had been done, and how to get back from it. There had to be something I could do, surely? What might have been missed in a change that separated me from the others?

The answer hit me like a battering ram. My darkness hadn't been affected in the slightest. Since Data-Riku had taken it up to shoo Ansem out of him, it had been quelled down to a more or less manageable level, and it hadn't changed since. I wasn't completely separate, but now I had to figure out how to use this.

I pulled on it tentatively, not to use it as such but to see if I could get a reaction from the other end of that link. At first nothing happened but I was persistent, I kept pulling on it just enough to be noticeable, then letting it fade again. Sooner or later, Data-Riku would notice. He might not figure out exactly what was going on, but he'd notice.

Then I got a sign back. He repeated my slight tugging on my darkness, each one not just taking darkness off me but leaving me with a distinct pull on me. It wasn't a physical pull, but it gave me a direction. Naturally, I'd been heading in the wrong direction – the pulling lead back to the other side of the white room, but not to the door. Instead, it lead me to the far corner of it. It seemed to suggest this was not the same Castle Oblivion I'd been in before.

Now I had a definite link and someone listening on the other end. Could I use the darkness as a means of communicating with them? As far as I knew nothing of the sort had ever been tried before, but there's a first time for everything.

I was used to talking in the silent halls of my own mind if not to Roxas then to Ventus on the rare occasion he mentioned something to me. It seemed to me that the same thing should work here, so long as I routed it through that link.

_"Riku?"_ I called out mentally through it. _"Can you hear me?"_

_"I hear you Liam,"_ his voice came back eventually, though heavily distorted. _"Where are you? This guy in black here says you were with Data-Sora and Axel, but had disappeared when he went back up to tell you."_

_"Something came up. What stopped Riku from putting him and me back again?"_

_"I don't know. I was busy trying to explain things to Roxas at the time. Let me talk to Riku a moment, I'll get right back to you." _Then after a pause I heard even more distorted words that suggested I was somehow picking up on what he was saying out loud. Nothing clear enough to make out what, and there were no voices of the others until he came back to me. _"Riku asked Neku, and he says another book got involved. Sora says it's not his, so we reckon it has to be Charlie. What happened to you?"_

I briefly covered the events with Axel and Data-Sora, skipping over the parts between creating Vanitas and sending him off when he told me Vanitas was still with them and had already told them that.

_"I suspected Charlie might have been involved,"_ I finished. _"I overheard Data-Sora mention his name just as I entered Axel's corridor, but it got cut off before I heard any more about it. Where are you right now?"_

_"We're still in the white room trying to figure out a way of getting you back. Riku and Neku both insist we can't move on without you. What about you?"_

_"I think I'm in the real Castle Oblivion. It's hard to say for sure. Axel's corridor was meant to take me to where you were, but Charlie made it go to the same place in the real thing. I headed down through a few empty floors before I started to get a bit suspicious, and that's when I did this."_

_"Why didn't you just take a dark corridor?"_

_"Because I don't know how, Riku. That and my darkness-"_

_"Point taken. Hold on, Vanitas reckons he's got an idea."_

I waited for a moment, then felt something intrude on the connection we've got, seeming to be searching for something.

_"Got you,"_ Vanitas' voice announced. _"Stay where you are. I'll be there in a moment."_

Then the sense of his presence was gone again.

_"He's gone,"_ Data-Riku reported just after. _"Why didn't he just open a corridor for you to take here?"_

_"I'll ask him when he gets here,"_ I replied. _"Did anyone else turn up there, by the way?"_

_"No, why?"_

_"Another bit of my Keyblade disappeared when I created Vanitas, and since Axel is going with Data-Sora now he has a second companion."_

_"But you're filling in for Riku, and since you've left them that means he – or you – don't count any more,"_ he pointed out. _"He's only got one companion that way, and you'll still be stuck with one."_

I muttered a few words at that out loud, but had to admit he was probably right.

_"Ask Riku to talk to Neku for me,"_ I told him. _"I need to know whether Riku's still the leader there while he still occupies my body, or if I'll take that back when Vanitas brings me back. If he is, then I count as a companion, and that'll be a pain."_

_"I'll pass it on. Riku reckons Vanitas should be getting to you any moment now, and it won't be safe for us to talk while you're on the way back."_

I let it lie at that, taking a seat on the stone steps while I waited for Vanitas to turn up. For a time it seemed as if he was just taking his time until I felt his presence again.

_"This Charlie is interfering again,"_ Vanitas reported. _"I'm going to have to keep a constant presence here to stop him, so don't mind me here."_ He paused, then added, _"You could at least have given me a different name to him, you know."_

_"Stay out of my memories, Vanitas. If you want to know about something, ask me."_

_"Whatever you say, Master."_

_"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?"_

_"You _are_ a Keyblade Master. It's the proper form of address."_

_"In formal situations, and I'm never formal. Formality bores me. Are you coming or not?"_

_"I'm almost there. Stop being so impatient Master, I'm having to fight with the darkness to get it to go the right way. Charlie really doesn't want me to reach you."_

_"Get Neku to help you then."_

_"I'm in the middle of a corridor. I can hardly turn around and try to go back again."_

_"Just let him redirect your corridor then. You'll get wherever he's sending you quicker, then just head back again."_

_"That would work, if I had something back there to use as a beacon. I ended up on a beach last time he directed me, and I couldn't find my way back to him if I tried."_

Data-Riku, still on the other end of the main connection, coughed pointedly.

_"Oh, shut up,"_ Vanitas told him.

_"It's not as if I said anything,"_ Data-Riku said. _"I just thought I might remind you I'm still here."_

_"Make him stop that, Master."_

_"Stop calling me Master then,"_ I told him irritably.

The sense of his presence changed slightly, and it was with some relief I caught the scent of darkness fill the room to silently announce he'd finally managed to reach me.

"Like I said," he told me as he emerged. "It's the proper address for a Keyblade Master."

"I'm not going to get into that argument again. Just stop it and get us back."

"Whatever you say-"

"If you say Master one more time," I warned him ominously.

"-Liam," he finished, sounding amused.

"Is there any real reason you're still wearing that silly mask?" I asked him, more to change the subject while he created the return corridor.

"If you didn't want me to wear it, why did you create me with it?"

"It wasn't entirely my idea. You already know about the other Vanitas, I was thinking about him at the time because I was doing the same thing to Sora as Xehanort did to Ventus. That's probably why you look like him. Why don't we just leave it at that?"

He did take off the mask, tossing it absently into the surrounding darkness of the corridor where it vanished. Naturally, underneath it he looked identical to the original Vanitas, wearing an expression of barely concealed amusement.

"Riku's very put out with you, you know," he said after a time. "The real one, that is. He had a number of uncomplimentary things to say about you when he found out something was interfering again."

"He'll get over it. Besides, it was him who gave the idea to Neku, so he's only got himself to blame." I realized something then, something that was just a little odd. "How come you could exist outside the datascape? You're meant to be data."

"No I'm not. My heart might be a piece of Data-Sora's, but the rest of me was created from the darkness and from your will. I can exist anywhere you can. I thought you knew that."

"Why would I know something like that? How long is this going to take?"

"We're almost at the exit. Has anyone ever told you you're impatient?"

"Normally I've got patience in abundance, but a lot of things have been going wrong lately. That sort of thing tends to erode it quickly."

There was a curious dark flash as I passed the second threshold and exited the corridor closely followed by Vanitas, but I didn't pay it any attention. I was more concerned with making sure we'd reached the right place.

This time of course, with the help of Data-Riku acting as a homing beacon, it was the right white room. Roxas was listening to Data-Riku and Sora talking animatedly on one side, while Riku had kept apart from them to talk to Neku through his book.

Riku looked up as we exited, closing Neku's book and joining us. "Neku and I have been trying to figure out a way to undo this, except every time we try something he hits a roadblock. Charlie's doing everything he can to stop us."

"Did you ask him the question I had Data-Riku pass on to you?"

"I'm leading," Riku replied. "You're a companion. At least until we solve this. We're not going anywhere until then. Here," he said, handing Neku's book to me. "You work with him for a bit. I don't seem to be getting anywhere."

Another problem down, and another one to go.


	36. Action and Reaction

Neku gave me a very succinct summary of the situation without any prompting, writing it out in his book almost before I'd taken it from Riku.

'You already know Charlie's interfering, but he's doing it in an oddly subtle way for him. He's making very small, minor alterations to you. Just enough to put you beyond my influence, and every time I change one of them back again another one happens. There's nothing actually stopping me directly, but I can't make the switch soon enough after his change to make it take effect.'

"Changing them back?" I asked aloud. "I thought you said you couldn't undo what another book did?"

'I'm testing the limits of that,' Neku replied. 'Technically I'm not undoing what he's doing, I'm just making a second change that just happens to restore your state before his one. He's made more of them since you took up my book again though. It's as if he knows you're holding it and is deliberately making it harder.'

That gave me an idea. Several, actually, but most unrelated to the current dilemma.

"Keep an eye on that will you?" I asked Neku, then to Riku, "Take his book back for a moment and give it another try – it won't work, I know, it's just testing a theory."

Riku looked puzzled, but did as I asked, then handed the book back again.

'Interesting,' Neku had noted underneath Riku's latest attempt to switch us back. 'When you gave me back to him, there was less resistance again.'

"He's set it to go ahead without having him keep an eye on it constantly. At least that's my theory, my reasoning is that if he was actively doing this himself, he wouldn't have done less just because Riku took the book."

"Is that even possible?" Riku wondered.

'Theoretically,' Neku answered. 'I wouldn't like to try it myself, but I think I can see how he's done it. If you're right, and my extension of your theory is too, we still can't get around it though. I can't change any of you enough to circumvent it, and I can't hide anyone from it.'

"I think you're wrong, Neku," I disagreed. "But you don't need to make any changes for it. You said Roxas is completely immune to you – and to other books too. If he took up your book and Charlie's little automatic resistance thing tried to account for him, wouldn't it just kinda... fall apart?"

'You're asking me to consider a complete unknown, Liam. There's absolutely no way to tell what will happen if we try that.'

"Guess then?"

'I think it will happen the way you're suggesting, but there's only one way to tell for sure.'

"Roxas?" I called over to him. "Can we borrow you for a moment?"

"Me?" he seemed startled. "What could I possibly do?"

"Solve this problem," Riku told him, gesturing at himself.

"You mean you don't like being Lee?" Sora teased, grinning broadly.

"Or is it me personally you've got a problem with?" I asked, looking equally angelic.

Riku looked from Sora to me, sighed theatrically, then said, "Honestly, what am I meant to do? My best friend and the guy who has a crush on me are ganging up against me."

Only Roxas didn't seem amused by that, but that wasn't really surprising.

"What do you need me to do?" Roxas asked simply.

"Take Neku's book from me, then write the words that will put Riku and me back to normal. We'll be able to tell you if it's worked or not."

"Won't I just have the same trouble Riku was?"

"We don't think so. Try it, Roxas."

"I don't know. Should I really take the book from you? It's kinda important."

"Trust me, Roxas. Just take it and try it."

He reluctantly took it off me, taking the pen with it, then looked back to us again before he wrote anything as if for reassurance. He seemed oddly uncomfortable being the center of attention, but eventually he got over that and wrote in Neku's book.

It must have worked, because my view blurred and shifted, leaving me slightly disoriented because my eyes told me I'd moved to the right, while my body – my own body again, at last – told me I hadn't moved. Riku took that slightly worse than I did, somehow ending up stumbling over and into me, while everyone else looked for some certain sign it had worked.

I can't be certain of this, because not even Neku was aware of it, but I'm fairly sure at the moment Riku and I were returned I heard an enraged howl coming from further up the Castle. If I really did hear it and it was Charlie, I'd say it gives an idea of what he thought of my solution.

"You know Liam, this might be the only time I don't mind being in your arms," Riku told me when I caught him.

"I'm just getting even with you, naturally. After all, I seem to recall you holding onto me similarly a while back."

"Did you really have to remind me of that?"

"It worked then," Data-Riku sighed, sounding relieved.

Roxas offered me Neku's book back, but after a moment to consider I told him, "Keep it. At least we know you can't be corrupted by any of the books. I'm trusting you to keep him safe." I think that startled him more than finding out we'd had something for him to do.

"What do we do now?" Vanitas asked.

"We move on. After that, Riku will no doubt want to go back upstairs to keep an eye on Data-Sora. Axel should still be with him after I drafted him in, but you might want to reassure Data-Sora that you're not me."

"Yeah, we kinda read about his reaction," Riku nodded. "He doesn't seem to like you too much right now."

"Couldn't be helped. You go on up, we'll move on."

"There's a problem with that," Data-Riku told me. "We don't have a world card between us."

"If you give me the name of a world, I can make one," Roxas suggested.

"That might be a good idea," Neku spoke yet again through Data-Riku. "When he made use of me, his immunity was somehow extended to me. I'm still looking into how far that can be pushed, but between him and me, we might be able to create worlds that are free from Charlie's influences entirely."

"Wouldn't that sort of annoy him a little?" Sora suggested.

"Think I care?" I replied, then scratched thoughtfully at my chin.

"You need a shave, by the way," Riku told me.

"I know," I replied absently. "Haven't you left yet?"

"Trying to get rid of me? I thought you liked me?" Riku laughed as he opened a dark corridor.

"Which world should we go to?" Roxas asked afterwards.

"I don't know about you, but I'd like a nice peaceful one," Data-Riku asserted. "After Ansem in the last one, I'd rather not have to go through that again."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Sora told him. "This entire trip through the Castle is so Liam can get a handle on his darkness. Maybe you ought to take a leaf from the Castle itself and go somewhere where you had a problem with it before. Coming to terms with it like that is kinda what Riku did, right?"

"Something like that," I agreed. "The Castle seems to have picked worlds in chronological order, so I don't think there'll be any from the original adventure left to go on, and there's no point repeating Castle Oblivion inside itself."

"The Coliseum, second visit," Vanitas murmured. "At the very least, the Underdrome there."

"Didn't I tell you to stop looking at my memories?"

"You're the one who left the door open," he shrugged. "Metaphorically speaking, that is."

Data-Riku gave me a speculative look, then his eyes went distant and I felt him touching on the link I'd created between us.

"Don't you start too," I told him irritably. "Stay out of there."

"I don't think so," Data-Riku replied. "You want us to go there? Do you have any idea how dangerous that could turn out? That's the time and place you originally got your darkness!"

"Best place to confront it then, wouldn't you say? Write it down, Roxas."

Data-Riku almost said something as he did so, but a dark corridor opened. We all turned to look curiously to find out who had created it, then after a few moments it pulsed and spat Riku out, who collapsed onto the floor nearby. The corridor, indifferent to this, whisked itself out of existance.

Riku did not get up. 'Heal' echoed through the room as seemingly all of us cast it at once, followed by Esuna from me because I was the only one who had it.

"Roxas," I snapped. "Get Neku to find out what happened to him!"

Sora was the first to reach him, closely followed by me. Aside from being unconscious, there didn't appear to be any evidence of what had happened to him. Since he, unlike Data-Sora, was not purely light, I touched carefully on him with my own darkness to try and find out anything. Putting it to use as a kind of medical aid is probably not something many people have thought of, but if it works...

There were some light bruises left that the barrage of healing magic had not managed to restore, and the last of that magic was clearing up the remnants of any injuries he'd obtained while away, but he was at least not in any immediate danger.

"Neku says he can't find out," Roxas reported. "Something's blocking him out of the upper floors entirely."

Sora didn't even bother to consult me. He brought out his own book, a slender volume that looked almost as if the cover was made of neatly cropped grass.

He didn't even bother to write in it, he just flipped it open and said, "Lets see what we can do about that."

'Way ahead of you,' his book wrote back. 'Data-Sora attacked him.'

"Why didn't Axel do anything to stop him?" I asked.

'He was being held up by your Heartless,' the book replied.

"I'm going to do something permanent about him soon," I muttered. "Have you got that world card, Roxas?"

"Right here," he replied from behind me, reaching ahead to hand it over.

"Vanitas, Riku – pick up Riku here and bring him with us. Sora and I will have to do what we can to keep him and you two out of trouble, and Roxas can work with Neku to try and guarantee some kind of safety."

"You're just going to move on?" Sora said. "You're not going to wait for him to recover?"

"We're far enough behind as it is after the last issue Charlie threw at us. He's not in any immediate danger, so he'll be fine. Now let's move people, we have work to do!"

I'll admit I may have been a little rough with him about it, but at the time I was contemplating a number of things to do to my Heartless just for the trouble he was causing alone.


	37. Planning Ahead

The Coliseum this time did not send us to yet another new scene, a welcome change after the results of the last extra area I'd stopped by.

On the other hand, there were a few of differences to the usual scene. The Coliseum showed the signs of the Hydra's attack, confirming that this represented the right time at least. The entrance door put us down on top of the pile of rubble where the lobby used to be, looking toward the massive doors that link either to the town near Thebes or to the Underworld.

Buried under that rubble, reaching up out of it, were the remains of the two bronze statues just outside. These were not the same as normal, both carved this time into the form of Ice Titans.

As we picked our way down the rubble, Data-Riku and Vanitas had a little trouble getting Riku down without themselves losing their footing. Taking my Keyblade back off Vanitas helped slightly.

"Definitely shorter than it was," I murmured to myself, checking it absently.

"Yeah, Riku said something about Anti-Sora being released from it," Sora told me. "He did something that arranged for it to become a part of Vanitas though."

"Probably for the best. I don't think he'd make a good travelling companion."

"You know what's going to happen here, don't you?" Sora asked as we passed into the familiar depths of the Underworld through the first door of the floor.

"'natchly. We just go on over to the Underdrome and handle some Heartless before we take on Hades and the support he had last time."

"You're forgetting the rest of the trip. The way I remember it, you had to pick up Auron's captive free will between rounds."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. You had a problem with me when I got you to pull in some help afterwards, as I recall."

"I know. You're also forgetting it was Maleficent's aid, not Hades. Remember what she brought along?"

"My Heartless and a Dustflier."

"Right. With them taking care of Riku..." he left it hanging. "I'm good by myself, but I'm not _that_ good – and you're hardly at full strength you know."

"I wish people would stop reminding me about that. I made a mistake, let it lie. We might have a problem here."

"No boats to get across, no Pain or Panic... and no Underdrome. You did make this world right, didn't you?" he threw back to Roxas.

"How should I know?" he replied. "These are his memories, not mine."

"What does Neku say?" I asked.

After a few moments to check, Roxas replied, "He says stop bothering him, he's busy and that you'll find out what you need to know if you go down to Hades' chamber deeper in the Underworld."

This being Castle Oblivion still, each possible route had a door to itself. This was the first time in the Castle I had more than one direction I could take – one into the Underworld's caverns that lead to the Lock where Megara was held and where the seal for the Underdrome was, the other leading to the Cave of the Dead and to Hades' chamber. It was fairly clear which way to go based on Neku's waspish response.

There were Heartless in the following rooms, of course. The Underworld here had been split up into many smaller rooms each piece separated into several rooms. At least there was only one route to follow through it.

Mostly these Heartless were just the usual varieties – Soldiers, Shadows, a few Neoshadows, Lance Soldiers and some Minute Bombs are the ones I recall right away. Two rooms in though, they started getting airborne reinforcements in the forms of Air Soldiers, Blue Rhapsodys and Crimson Jazz. Sora shot me a meaningful look as they started to supplement the ground forced, and I fell back just enough to get clear of the main fight surging around him to take the rest out by magic.

I came up with several more magical experiments in the Underworld. Did you know if you fuse Thundaga with Fira, then route the resulting spell through any of the Aero spells you get a vortex of superheated plasma? The surprised looks my companions gave me suggested no one had, but it was brutally effective. Anything that got caught in it, didn't come out again.

One of the more interesting ones was suggested to me by Vanitas, of all people – the light from Esuna, some earth-magic and once again the most combinable of spells, Aero, and we had ourselves a portable sandstorm that didn't affect us, but battered at the Heartless mercilessly. Sora took a moment to heal himself, remarking that if I kept this up I'd have enough to write a whole book of spells. Tempting, but writing magic isn't the same as writing other things.

Anyway, eventually we made it down to the end of the Cave of the Dead, leaving a barrier behind us so we wouldn't be disturbed while handling anything that came up in Hades' Chamber.

Last time I'd been here it had been to steal the figurine that held Auron's Will, and I'd had to do it right under the noses of both Hades and Maleficent. This time however, the room was all but deserted.

Deserted except for one, pulsing red heart, held in a sphere above the table. There were a few very thin dark lines in places over it that pulsed between those the heart made, expanding with each pulse only to be forced back when the heart beat again.

"He's pulling toward it," Data-Riku said. No one needed any prompting to know who he meant. I touched on Riku again, this time searching him for the one thing I hadn't thought to check for. It wasn't there.

"Could this be what Data-Sora did?" Vanitas wondered.

"Probably, but how did it get here if Roxas and Neku were blocking out outside influences?"

"There's one outside influence," I told them. "We'll have to confront my Heartless here, and that forces him to be here. We don't know what happened upstairs, so it's entirely possible that my Heartless somehow took Riku's heart with him, and when we dragged him down here it was left here."

"Want me to do it?" Sora offered. "I know how it's done."

I thought about it, watching Riku's heart for a time. Maybe I could do something with this.

"Let it be for the moment. It's safe this way. Don't worry," I reassured him. "I'm not going to just leave it like this. I'm planning something, I just need a little time to figure it out. Put Riku down on the table," I told Data-Riku and Vanitas. "It'll give you a break from carrying him around everywhere."

"I can manage," Vanitas protested, but Data-Riku was already moving.

"I'm sure you can, but you can't carry him on your own and I want a break." Data-Riku looked over his real self almost critically as they laid him down, then said, "For some reason, he seems completely different to me."

"It's that darkness in you," Vanitas explained. "You accepted it, gave in to it. You might have switched it for the Master's there," he nodded to me, "but you still take it willingly. Riku does it differently."

"He balances his use of it carefully so it doesn't overcome him," I supplied. "That's why you can see it has only a small hold on his heart. Now stop babbling and let me concentrate."

The theory of the idea forming was sound, I just had to figure out how to make it work in practice. If my Heartless was here and in some way responsible for what we were seeing, there was no doubt he would have arranged for some kind of alarm to be raised if we released it. He'd want to know the moment that happened, and would likely have arranged for something inconvenient to happen to us when we did.

So if we left the two separate for now, bringing them both with us he'd have no idea what we'd done. I could hold Riku out of sight in reserve, a trap ready to spring on the unwary Anti-Liam, who was probably expecting me to do the Right Thing and reunite the two.

But how do you take a captive heart with you?

I reached out with my Keyblade, tapping Data-Riku on one shoulder then lowering the Keyblade to cause Mickey to reappear again. Sora's surprised expression was priceless.

"Your Majesty?" he exclaimed. "That was you all along?"

"Didn't ya explain that to him?" Mickey asked me wearily, then spotted Vanitas. "You _have_ been busy, haven't ya? And Riku-"

"I'll explain what you missed in a moment, Mickey," I cut him off. "I need to know something, and you're the closest thing I have right now to an expert. Do you know of any way we can make that come along with us," I motioned to Riku's heart, "Without restoring it?"  
>"Why would you wanna do that? Just give it back to Riku."<p>

"And set off whatever trap my Heartless has put on it, knowing that we'll do that because it's the right thing. Just hear me out," I told him, then briefly explained the basics of the plan.

"Can you be sure your Heartless would do that?"

"'natchly. I'd do it. Maybe differently to him, but I'd still do it."

Mickey considered it with clear reluctance. I don't think he approved of what I was doing, but I felt it was a necessary step.

I wonder how things might have turned out if I had restored Riku there instead.

"I think I know a way," he said eventually. But we'll have to bring Riku along with us."

"Why don't I help Vanitas?" Sora suggested. "That way Roxas still has his hands free to work with Neku, Mickey can bring his heart, and you can keep us safe."

"Can ya handle that?" Mickey asked me.

"You didn't see the magic he threw around on the way down. He doesn't need a Keyblade with that behind him."

"What about when I run out of magic, huh?" I asked him slyly. "We'll head back up to the entrance of the Underworld, then we'll have to run on down into the caverns to unlock the Underdrome. That's where I took on my Heartless and the Dustflier last time, so we'll have to raise it to do it again this time – unless Neku wants to lend a hand."

"He says stop relying on me," Roxas answered for him. "Besides, I'm working on something."

"You are, or he is?"

"Both. Somewhere we managed to skip two whole floors – either that or there's only eleven basements to Castle Oblivion, because there's only four floors left after this one. We're planning out what worlds you'll be going to, some of what will happen there, and keeping the others out. Should also warn everyone – because he won't be facing Ansem at the end, and because of Xehanort's plan, we'll be going directly to the Keyblade Graveyard for the final confrontation."

"Did you want to arrange the rest of my life after then for me as well?" I suggested sardonically.

"Be nice," Mickey murmured to me, then muttered a few words with his Kingdom Key aimed at Riku's heart that attached a chain of light to the barrier holding it. "After you," he told me. "You're the leader here."

"Is it just me that finds it strange that a king is deferring to me?" I said to no one in particular.


	38. Unversed Arrival

Half-way back up the Cave of the Dead I realized my magic wasn't going to be enough to get us back up, down into the neighbouring caverns to unlock the Underdrome, then back up once more to go there. Naturally those Samurais who had chosen to help me were content to take up some of the slack, each of them with their own contingent of our own Heartless.

These Heartless however were distracted by the tempting presence of a loose heart. The Samurais had trouble keeping them under control, and even the suggestion that I'd bypass them and take over personally made the Heartless flee. They still were not willing to let me have direct command over them.

"I thought you said you could handle this," Mickey accused me as we were left with Samurais, who even with magic assistance showed they were not as adept at handling the Castle's own Heartless.

"Actually it was Sora that implied that, I never said it. I did point out I'd have trouble when my magic ran low. It's not out yet, but without the Heartless too it's definitely taking more to keep us going. I think Riku's heart is luring the Castle's Heartless to us as well, and that's not making it any easier."

"Shouldn't we give it back to Riku now?" he asked plaintively, glancing back at Riku's heart still held within the sphere. "Since we're not down there, if there is a trap on it, it shouldn't affect us, right?"

"Probably so, unless he thought of that, but it'll still be triggered and he'll still know we've done it. If he doesn't know we have both Riku and his heart safe with us, I'm hoping that he'll just assume I won't have him on my side when I confront him. By leaving it as late as possible, the chances are we'll surprise him – and he probably shares one issue with me. When surprised, he won't be thinking straight for a time."

"You're gonna have to do _something_ Liam. If these Heartless get any thicker even you and the Samurais won't be able to handle them."

"I'm working on it," I said absently, then paused. "Actually, I don't need to. Vanitas, you know what the Unversed are, don't you?"

"Of course," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Why do you think? They should be a part of you just as they were a part of your namesake. They aren't interested in consuming hearts, and they'll answer to you. Since you answer to me – or at least you'd better if you want to keep on existing – that means we've got some fresh reserve forces we can call on."

"Think they can manage without a bit of magic for a time?" he asked after a moment.

"Probably not. They're getting thicker again."

"Roxas, can I tear you away from Neku for a moment? I'm going to need both hands, and I can't work this while I'm supporting Riku."

While they rearranged themselves to free up Vanitas, I dipped into the collected cards for Wisdom form to make full use of its magic affinity, also making use of a previous request I'd made of Neku to borrow Zexion's Lexicon as well. Illusions, as I've probably said before, cost a great deal of magic, but properly used they can save even more.

"Oh, very nice," Mickey murmured admiringly after the first such illusion. "Those hearts are so real I can almost feel their presence more than Riku's own."

"That was kind of the idea," I admitted. "If the Heartless are busy with the illusory hearts, I don't have to use so much magic and the Samurais can attack them almost without having to worry about themselves. How long are you going to need, Vanitas?"

"That depends on how many and what kinds of Unversed," he replied. "The longer I have, the more of them and the more powerful of them I can call in. I can't say for sure, Master. I've never done this before."

I let the 'Master' pass this time, in part because he was busy but also because it didn't seem to matter what I said about it.

"This illusion will last for a few more minutes yet, and I've got just enough for two, maybe three repeats. After that we'll need your support."

"Should be long enough. Here, take this," he added, returning my Keyblade to me. "You need it more than I do."

I renewed the illusion with only a brief gap between the two, the Samurais easily handling the sudden surge toward us by adopting a phalanx formation, leaving no gap between them with their blades and swings coordinated so that there was no quarter for anyone to get through. The airborne Heartless ignored this, but were swiftly distracted by the fresh illusion.

"Got it," Vanitas said eventually. With those words, the ground seemed almost to erupt with Unversed. Mostly the equivalents of Shadows and Soldiers, the Flood and Scrappers, but there were others too. Several Bruisers started taking large chunks out of the distracted Heartless, while two flocks of Archraven Unversed harried the flying Heartless. An Unversed he identified as a Chrono Twister put out various Stop and Slow spells, once even stealing my own fusion of the two, to keep some of the more powerful Heartless at bay until enough of them gathered together to take them down.

Mickey suddenly burst out laughing as Vanitas took over from Roxas again.

"What's with you?" Sora sounded more concerned than curious.

"Liam," he answered eventually. "It's just occurred to me that he could be seen as the bad guy of all this. He's the one commanding Heartless, Nobody and Unversed together, he created Vanitas and is keeping Riku's heart away from him, and I could be wrong, but I think we'll be the first on the scene at the Keyblade Graveyard at the end of this. He wants to make use of the X-blade, even if it's for different reasons. It's like he's trying to be Ansem, Xemnas and Xehanort all at the same time."

"I don't know I'd go that far," I protested. "Just because I'm – what was it you called me – sneaky, devious and manipulative... well, whatever works I guess. At least I'm not in it for world domination or anything stupid like that."

"Doesn't it feel nice to be on the evil side for a change?" Sora laughed. "Maybe we'll even have a chance of winning."

"Why shouldn't we? You could say Xehanort did, eleven years ago. Alright, it didn't turn out exactly how he wanted, and he didn't get the X-blade or Kingdom Hearts, but he did overpower Terra and he did succeed in forcing Ventus and Vanitas to fight."

"I'd almost forgotten that," Vanitas mused. "I'm going to have to do that to Data-Sora, aren't I?"

"Oh, probably. I'm counting on it actually. Neku's afraid of the X-blade with good reason, and more so of it in the hands of me or my Heartless. If you have it instead, at least he won't have to worry about that so much."

"Y'know Xehanort is gonna try and stop you," Mickey said. "He'll see his old plan in your actions and act against it."

"I know," I admitted. "But things are different. I'm better than he is, and I'm not blinded by the same goals he was. Looks like your Unversed have mopped up the Heartless entirely, Vanitas. I don't see any of them left."

"There's a few," he told me as we finally passed through the last door back into the entrance of the Underworld. "They're chasing them down in the caverns that way."

"They shouldn't be able to go that way. I haven't opened the doors yet."

Vanitas grinned at me a moment and said, "Doesn't that pocket feel just a little lighter, Master?"

I glanced down, then swore briefly. The little monster had neatly slit open the pocket I'd left the map cards in and I hadn't noticed a thing. It was useful I suppose, but...

"Would you mind a suggestion?" Sora asked. "Not that it matters if you do, I'm going to give it to you anyway."

"What choice does that leave me? Go on, what's your idea?"

"Since his Unversed are busy clearing out the area for us, why don't you all wait here? I'll run on down to the Lock, since I know where it is, and unlock it for you. You can save your magic and spend all that time inventing some more curse words."

"Someday Sora, your mouth is going to get you into trouble," I accused him.

"What's new there?" he grinned, then left without waiting for me to say anything.

* * *

><p>During the wait for him to return, we filled Mickey in on what he'd missed while being held in the Keyblade. He explained to us that he wasn't aware of anything, his memories stopped when I brought out Data-Riku and started again when I restored him.<p>

We discovered – or at least I did – that even though Data-Riku was now in that position, his touch on my darkness was still present, preventing the lesser surges from getting the better of me. His help was keeping the worst of it under control, keeping it safe for now.

Roxas explained to us that he and Neku were making arrangements for those of us that were data to exist at the Graveyard when the time came, which was proving to be a little troublesome for them. They're persistent though.

Then finally, Mickey turned his attention to something that seemed to have bothered him – Vanitas' persistently calling me Master during our discussions, except when he was talking to me directly.

"Just why do you keep calling him that?" he finally demanded bluntly, after I'd absently told him not to for the however many times it was now.

"Because it's true," Vanitas shrugged. "He's a Keyblade Master. He created me, and I answer to him. That makes me his student, and therefore him my Master. Also because he's technically the only one of Eraqus's students to become a Master and who isn't lost somehow. You're busy with things usually, your Majesty, Aqua's somewhere in the Realm of Darkness and Terra's stuck under Xehanort's thumb. Since Yen Sid is retired, that means anyone who wants to have a shot at becoming a Master themselves has to train under Liam."

"Thanks," I muttered. "I'm so glad you decided to say that while Sora isn't around. I'd rather he – or Riku – didn't decide to come to me and try to get me to make them Masters. I'm not the one meant to do that."

Mickey however looked speculatively at me.

"If you could undo what Aqua did to Castle Oblivion, you could set up shop there until we retrieve her. Someone has to be in the Land of Departure to teach new Keyblade wielders."

"I'm not a teacher, Mickey. I don't have the patience for people who can't keep up with me. Besides, I've got people back home who'd notice if I just disappeared without making arrangements to cover for me."

"You could bring him along."

"I wasn't just talking about my boyfriend. There's others too. I've got responsibilities back there I can't just put aside. Anyway, it wouldn't work. Only Aqua can restore the Land of Departure. She's the one who holds Master Keeper, Eraqus's Keyblade. Only that Keyblade can do what you're suggesting."

"Inconvenient," he murmured. "I guess it's a good thing there's no one who needs training then. Who's the one meant to put Sora and Riku to the test?"

"Yen Sid," I shrugged. "But don't tell him. The events leading up to that haven't happened yet."

"Don't start with telling the future again," he shuddered. "I can't get used to knowing you know what will happen."

"You didn't tell him?" Roxas asked me, out of the blue.

"Tell him what?"

"What you told Riku when the two of you were on the Dark Margin."

"Obviously not. I didn't exactly plan on telling him either, but he had a few suspicions. It was easier to put them to rest by explaining it."

Mickey looked on shrewdly, but chose not to ask what it was I hadn't told him. For now, the knowledge of the real origins – and the real story with them – of their worlds and lives would remain known only by Riku, Sora, and my own Nobody.


	39. Battle Fever

**A/N:** Thanks to the magic of knowing what's going to happen tomorrow, tomorrow's chapter comes early. Sometimes being able to tell the future _does_ come in useful. Even if it is just a sham in my case.

* * *

><p>I passed the rest of the time waiting for Sora by planning what I was going to do and need once we got to the Keyblade Graveyard. Not that I let anyone in on what I was planning just yet, it was just a little soon for that. I was fairly certain at least a few of them would have more than a few questions, and I didn't have patience for that.<p>

About the only part of it I did make known was that since Data-Sora, if not Charlie too, was meddling upstairs and giving me more companions, maybe Neku's rule about limiting companions was a little outdated. Data-Riku was brought back out to join us alongside Mickey, who was considerably wary of him. Anti-Sora, having been made into a part of Vanitas, did not show up however.

That still left four hearts inside the Keyblade I held though – Data-Kairi, Tron, Donald and Goofy. Ventus had shown the way for Mickey to escape his confinement there, and destroying Castle Oblivion's memory of Riku had unleashed his Data counterpart, but how was I going to get the rest of them out?

"Sora's coming back," Vanitas told us. "The Underdrome should surface soon. There's a few isolated pockets of Castle Heartless I'm cleaning up along the way."

"You don't really have to exterminate them all, you know," Mickey told him.

"Basic tactical move," I murmured. "Never leave an enemy behind you. Even if the Castle's Heartless are just memories. Here they're just as dangerous as the real thing."

"I've got some more Archravens out ready as well," Vanitas added. "One of them has a map card and will open the door to the Underdrome for us and scout ahead. The Unversed are a part of me, so I'll know what they see and hear there as soon as they see it. Or hear it."

"Not that I'm gonna doubt what you find out, but what should we see there?"

"My Heartless and the Dustflier," I answered, watching the water's surface starting to bubble. "A Heartless that Roxas once told me almost destroyed him before Xion showed up, and a tough customer if ever I saw one. I rather suspect it's going to hold a grudge against me for the way I treated it when I really faced it."

The Underdrome burst out of the lake, the water brought with it cascading out of it. As the flows started to subside, the door appeared in a flash, only to be opened by an Archraven that held a red map card in its beak. The flock around it followed it through into what we could clearly see was the arena beyond.

"Any moment now," Roxas said without looking up, answering the question all of us were about to ask.

Mickey glared at him, then sighed, "Not you too."

"Infuriating, isn't it?" Roxas agreed.

Vanitas was looking troubled, however.

"He's not alone," he reported. "The Master's Heartless, I mean. There's no sign of any other Heartless, but..."

"But what?" I prompted. "Spit it out."

"He's got company. Auron, Axel and if I'm not mistaken, Data-Sora too. Your dark half looks... irritated. They haven't spotted my Unversed yet-" he broke off with a wince. "Spoke too soon. Data-Sora just shot them down with thunder magic."

"Why did you wince?" Roxas asked curiously.

"You'd wince too if you got hurt. They're a part of me, remember? I've still got a few I managed to keep out of sight, but none of them close enough to make out enough."

"There goes that surprise," I muttered. "They know we've got the Unversed now."

"Now?" Mickey asked yet again.

I considered it, then nodded, "Go ahead. We could cut it finer, but there's no real point now. Good of you to join us, Sora. You're just in time. Everyone be ready – if Anti-Liam has put some foresight into his trap, he'll have set it to go off wherever Riku's heart is, and not down in Hades' chamber."

There was a mass of flat looks toward the tide of Unversed that had accompanied Sora from the caverns as if to point out that this was hardly a problem, then Mickey levelled his Kingdom Key at the sphere holding Riku's heart to unlock it. There was the briefest blur of red as it shot back to its proper place, then Riku woke with a start, looking around.

A series of explosions around us drowned out what he started to say, the collected defensive magic almost all of us cast barred all but a few slight glancing blows from reaching us.

"You," Riku said to me when it was over, "Played a very dangerous game there."

"I take it you were aware of what was going on then."

"Obviously. If even one of those Heartless had gotten close..."

"But they didn't, Riku, they didn't. I care about you too much to let that happen."

"If I might interrupt your touching exchange," Vanitas said, cutting off whatever Riku was going to say. "Your Heartless seems to be a little more irritated," he continued lightly. "He just knocked Axel out cold in what appears to be a fit of rage, blasted a hole in one part of the arena that seems to lead down into a deeper part of the Underworld and said something I don't think bears repeating." He paused, then blithely went on, "Was that sort of the effect you wanted, Master?"

"Just perfect. Follow me everyone, and let's see just how much we can do. Riku, your magic at the ready – I want a Zero Gravity spell on Anti-Liam on my signal."

"Why not do it yourself?"

"Because he's my Heartless, and I have to use the cards. Unless you stole those too," I added to Vanitas.

"Don't be silly. I only took the map cards."

Predictably, my Heartless was visibly livid when we entered the arena, biting off vicious imprecations that thankfully, were not audible. Data-Sora looked at me with flat hatred, but I also noticed had elected to stay behind Auron, who looked a mystery as always. Axel, as Vanitas had reported, was out cold.

"You seem to be a little out of sorts old boy," I called casually. "Did something suitably bad ruin your day, or are you just showing how foul tempered either of us can be?"

"Don't try to be smart," Anti-Liam snarled. "How did you manage to hide him from the trap I left for you?"

"Riku? Oh, simple. I didn't give his heart back until just now. Weren't you paying attention? Terribly sloppy of you there, dear chap. You really should try and stay abreast of things." Then I turned to Data-Sora and told him, "You needn't hide. You should know by now I'm not going to do anything else to you. What I did was necessary, and I've no further issue with you. If you just keep out of things here, there'll be no need for any more unpleasantness."

Data-Sora did not answer me directly, but instead tugged on Auron's loose sleeve. "Get him for me," he said in a low voice laden with venom. "Get him good."

In my mind I heard Data-Riku's voice sound through the link, _"Roxas says leave Auron to him. I'm going to mention to Sora that he and I keep him away from you until they've done what they need to."_

I didn't reply to that, but aloud I said, "You're assuming he'll be able to reach me, you know. I do seem to have all this backup here – or had you not noticed?"

"Bring all the backup you want," Anti-Liam said. "It won't save you this time, and not even the cards are going to help you."

"Now, Riku," I murmured.

"Going up," he responded. With a startled expletive, my Heartless rose up into the air, flailing ineffectually at it as if it would allow him to escape it.

After a few moments he stopped, glared down at me and snapped, "Dustflier – get in here, right now!"

"That's our cue, gentlemen. Data-Riku, you go ahead with Roxas's plan. Vanitas, coordinate your Unversed to help with the Dustflier, and Data-Riku too if he needs it. Samurai's, time to earn your keep again – flying Heartless only, if you please. The rest of you, with me. We'll not let this Heartless get the better of us without a fight."

"Not you, Liam," Mickey held me back. "You gotta stay out of this. You're our general here, and you gotta be able to handle all fronts. I'll lead against the Dustflier." and with that, he was gone.

"And I'll stay with you," Riku told me. "Besides, I can't get involved. I've got to keep up the magic on your Heartless."

"Oh, yes. I'd almost forgotten about him. Having fun up there?" I shouted up to him. Another curse was thrown my way.

"Where did you learn such language?" Riku asked me.

"I've known a few people with some colourful vocabularies," I replied, looking on as the Samurais formed up around us, their Heartless coming into existence alongside them. Darkballs were present again, apparently a favourite of the Samurais, but they were supplemented by Possessors, Bit Snipers, Air Soldiers and Hover Ghosts. A second round of Heartless showed up as more Samurais arrived to take up a second defensive block, and with them came a collection of similar Heartless – seemingly all the variants of the Red Nocturne Heartless with all their various colours, strengths and magic.

Like the Unversed, they were directed where they were needed, which was toward the main battle around the Dustflier, which had landed with a crunch of rock beneath it. Mickey weaved through a sudden firestorm it created with ease, leading a number of the smaller Unversed along behind him, while other Unversed circled round to attack from the rear. The remaining Archravens dived down, unable to do much to the Dustflier by themselves, but they provided a neat distraction.

Auron meanwhile was battling to break through Sora and Data-Riku, who were putting up a considerable fight. Data-Riku made use of the darkness to supplement his attacks when he went on the offensive, then when Auron struck back Sora took his place with a more defensive style that called on his magic.

Data-Sora kept out of it until it was clear Auron wasn't going to reach me, then he skirted around the edge of Auron's battle to tackle the Samurais directly. Busy as they were with their Heartless, they weren't so distracted that they couldn't handle this, and with them drawn up in an unbroken wall he had to come within reach of at least three of them to strike at any one of them with magic. By the time he realized that, Vanitas had caused a small contingent of Unversed to distract him.

"Get ready, Liam," Roxas told me. "We've almost broken through Charlie. You'll need to get to Auron and use your Keyblade on him to release someone from it."

There was a pause, then I answered, "Do I really have to? Auron's..."

"Only way. He's only data, if it helps."

"Not really, but if it's the only way... Alright, Samurais, when he gives the word open a path to let Auron reach us. Vanitas, have your Unversed keep Data-Sora and anyone else out of the way. I'll tell Sora and Data-Riku to go support Mickey myself."

"If he needs it," Riku said, pointing over to that battle. The Dustflier was a tough Heartless, but the combined efforts of Heartless, Unversed and the King in person were taking its toll on it. It kept leaping up into the air to try and get away from the ground threat, only to have a mass of magic thrown at it from the flying Heartless, beating it back down again for the rest to attack it.

"Now!" Roxas commanded sharply. The Samurai's, forewarned by me, stepped neatly aside while the Unversed swept Data-Sora away from the route they were opening.

_"Riku!"_ I called out mentally. _"You and Sora get away from Auron – let him come to me. Help Mickey with the Dustflier."_

_"On our way,"_ he responded, relaying the word to Sora then falling back. Auron went after them, but without a word Vanitas marshalled some Buckle Bruiser Unversed to hold him off, using their bucklers to shrug off the blows Auron rained on them.

"You're going to have to go after him yourself," Riku advised. "He's not going to come to you if he's distracted trying to get through the Unversed."

"I was sort of hoping to avoid that. By the way, when Auron and the Dustflier have been dealt with, hit my Heartless with a Gravity spell as hard as you can, will you? It'll hurt him a bit, and then he'll realize he's in the middle of an army that has no reason to like him and should run along on his own then."

"He isn't going to like that, is he?"

"Would you?" I grinned wickedly at him, then with a last check on Mickey's battle I headed after Auron, who broke off his own attacks to meet my attack. The last, and only, time I'd gone against him I'd discovered I was way out of his league. However, that had been going against him at full strength, here he'd been worn down by Sora, Data-Riku and the Unversed.

I flung Fire straight at him before I reached him, which he brushed aside as if it were no more than a fly, then his own great blade was brought down toward me. That was avoided simply by dodging to one side, even attempting to reach him with my Keyblade, but Auron easily avoided the attack.

Again the blade aimed for me, and anyone not expecting it would probably have been caught by it. I was watching his strike as well as him, quickly guessed at its aim then ducked low underneath it, and then a second time as he turned it sharply to bring it back the other way. He stepped clear again when I retaliated, then the flat of the blade caught me full in the chest in a swing I hadn't expected, sending me flying.

One of the Buckle Bruisers stopped that flight sharply with a buckler, allowing me to drop back to the ground as a passing Green Requiem Heartless conveniently dropped a healing spell on me before I headed back for Auron, who was already on the way for me.

I very nearly pulled in some darkness after having grown irritated with this, but at the last moment recalled I had another approach and sent Haste bounding around the arena, affecting Heartless and Unversed alike. I'd overlooked that, the cost of hasting everything and everyone on our side draining me completely of magic, but that was a secondary concern. It gave me the edge I needed to avoid Auron's already descending attack, then lunge forward.

"Sorry, friend," I told him, then with sudden inspiration, "But this is my story... and you're not part of it."

Oddly, Auron looked more satisfied than surprised as he faded away into what I believe were pyreflies. As he vanished, the remaining piece of the guard fell away from the Keyblade of People's Hearts, leaving me with only the handle, part of the blade and half the key itself left. In place of Auron, the familiar figure of Donald emerged.

"Huh? What? Where-"

"Later, Donald," I told him gently, then looked around to the various other battles that were going on. Data-Sora had somehow contrived to disappear, leaving only the battle with the Dustflier. Mickey had told me to keep out of it, but a little hand couldn't hurt, so I sent the remains of my Keyblade spinning over the heads of everyone else to catch it full in the face. Between that and various other attacks landing at the same time, the Dustflier gave a weak screech, then sank down and also faded away.

Riku cast the Gravity spell I'd ordered, and there was a dull, "Ugh!" as Anti-Liam landed nearby.

"So good of you to drop in on us," I greeted him urbanely. "Now all those distractions have been dealt with, shall we fight for a bit? Or would you like to cut ahead to running away yet again?"

Gravity still pinned him to the ground, but he managed to look up far enough to look me in the eye as he answered, "I hate you, Liam. I don't know how you can stand yourself right now."

"Feeling's mutual, dear boy," I smiled benignly. "Now then, since you're sticking around..." I trailed off taking my Keyblade in both hands, held just above him. His eyes went very wide, then he disappeared in a flash, leaving a feather behind, alongside another black enemy card. This one was another of me, this time in Master form.

"Good fight," Sora remarked laconically. "Did we lose anyone?"

"Don't be absurd," I replied. "A few Heartless maybe, possibly an Unversed or two, but no one we need worry about. Someone see if we can revive Axel, if not just heal him and bring him along. Some good teamwork here today, I think. Let's keep it up, and by the time we leave the Castle we won't have to worry about much."

"Much? Don't you mean anything?" Riku asked sceptically.

"Oh, there's always something to worry about. You should never believe nothing can go wrong, because something inevitably will."

"Who made that rule?"

"Whoever it was that pointed out that if someone declaims they're invincible, they automatically stop being invincible," I replied, then lead the way out of Olympus Coliseum through the door that had, rather interestingly, appeared over the wall in front of the pit my Heartless had opened deeper into the underworld.


	40. Going Back Again

As our party trooped through the door out of Olympus Coliseum, it was immediately apparent we were not alone. Not one but two members of the Organization stood before the next door, and I had the distinct feeling there was another present too.

"Liam," Riku murmured almost immediately, Way to the Dawn already in his hand. By the looks of him, he had no reason to like these two.

"Let me handle it. You see what can be done for Axel. Have Roxas give you a few more of my spells if you need."

He glared at me a moment, then moved away.

"What happened to him?" Zexion asked in a voice only just loud enough to reach us.

"He was attacked by Sora upstairs," I answered. "Why are you here? Both together, no less."

"Vexen is no more," Lexaeus explained laconically. "Sora destroyed him."

"And now Marluxia is left above to tackle the Keyblade Master alone," Zexion continued. "I see little reason for him to survive the encounter, so I took something from him. Without letting him know, of course." He reached around behind, lightly guiding none other than Naminé into view.

"You brought her here? Either you're very confident, or very stupid," I said. "Just what are you planning?"

"Through Vexen's meeting with you earlier, we have become aware of what we are, much like one of the two Rikus that accompanies you. It would seem to serve no purpose for us to oppose you, and thus I believe it better to leave her in your care. The two of us will await Marluxia's demise, and then delay Sora."

"Delay? Delay him from what?"

"You," Lexaeus shrugged. "He believes by destroying Marluxia he will gain the strength he needs to exact vengeance upon you."

"Are you sure Data-Sora is based on you?" Mickey accused again. "He's not acting like you."

"You're forgetting, both Xehanort and Charlie have had their hands on him," I threw back. "Neither of them are the best influences for anyone." I considered for a moment, then to the two Nobodies, "You realize even together Data-Sora isn't going to have much trouble with you."

Zexion nodded, "That is the other reason we are here. Doubtless you may come up with something that will allow us to last longer."

"Let me go with them," Data-Riku broke in. "I fought both you and him before, and I've learned a fair bit from you. If I can't take him on myself, I can at least give him one hell of a fight before he gets through me."

"I could go with him," Vanitas suggested, seeing my clear dislike for this.

"Don't be absurd, if you go anywhere near him right now you'll only make the both of you worse off," I told him. "You two need to be kept separate until we get out of here for the best results. Besides, I need you to command the Unversed.

"I'm the only one you can spare," Data-Riku persisted. "I'm the only one of us that's just data. The rest of you have a real world to go back to, and none of you can throw yourself into a fight you can't win because you're expected to make it out again."

I glanced to Roxas, who sighed, rolled his eyes, then told me, "I already took care of it. Both him and Riku have full access to the same magic you do, except the fused spells and the ones that cost more magic than either of them can store alone."

"Alright," I gave in reluctantly. "Just... watch that darkness, and keep in touch. I want to know how far up the Castle you are when you encounter him, and if you can manage it, try to let me know if he's about to defeat you for good. Don't, whatever you do, destroy him. I need him at the Graveyard."

"Anything else you want to make sure I don't already know?" he asked with a sly grin. "Don't worry. I know I don't exactly have high chances of getting back, but it needs to be done." Then he turned to the two Nobodies and said, "Swap you Naminé for me?" The faint smile that flickered over Zexion's expression suggested once again that perhaps not having a heart didn't always mean one was completely incapable of emotion.

Naminé watched completely unafraid as the trio disappeared to keep watch on Sora, then went wordlessly to Roxas. Roxas just handed her something, in turn relayed to me before she went back to him again. It was of course, the next world card.

"Hollow Bastion again?" I asked aloud. "What is this, the third time now?"

"Sort of," he replied evasively. "It'll become clear in a bit." His expression grew mischievous, "That, and we don't think it'd be a good idea to tell you too much in advance. You've got a tendency to meddle where you shouldn't."

"No one's perfect. How's Axel doing?"

"I feel like someone put me together backward if you must know," his voice answered from behind those clustered nearby. Donald and Mickey backed away as Riku helped him to his feet. After a few moments to look around, he said, "Am I down here, or are you up there?"

"Down," I answered. "My Heartless was a little irritated with some of the things I did and he took it out on you. I don't suppose you can tell us much about what happened to Data-Sora after I left?"

"He was working for Charlie. The two of them were practically arranging everything and acting for my benefit to prevent me from finding that out. When you went off to find Vanitas he said something about Charlie wanting you out the way, but that was about all until he and I finished a floor. Your Heartless showed up, the two traded insults for a time, then we were suddenly back in the Underworld."

"How does that prove the connection?" Riku wondered.

"Simple, the moment we go there he asked Charlie to get us all back again. Charlie told him something was interfering, so he dropped Auron in to protect him until he could get at least Data-Sora back out again."

"Conclusive enough for me," I agreed. "Now we're probably still behind schedule down here, and I'd like to leave the Castle before Data-Sora comes to meet us, so unless Roxas and Neku are still busy I think we'll get moving again."

"Just a moment," Roxas said, consulting the book briefly.

"Why don't you ask?" Naminé suggested after a moment, apparently in response to something Neku said. After another moment, she shook her head, then one more and some form of realization seemed to dawn on her. "I didn't think of it that way. Would that work?"

"It's fascinating." Sora chuckled. "No idea what they're talking about, just vague ideas."

"Should try it back home," I said. "People almost everywhere on their phones, you go about only ever hearing half-conversations. It gets worse when you have two people with completely separate calls that somehow seem to be answering each other."

"I know, I've been there remember?"

"When did you go there?" Riku asked curiously, then remembered. "Never mind. I completely forgot where you went when he took over for you."

"I need to know something, Liam," Roxas called. "Specifically, what you want to do in the Graveyard before anyone else gets there."

"I'll explain closer to the time. I know you all, you'd have questions that I don't have patience to answer. Just trust me and let the evil mastermind handle all the worrying."

"That's not why I need to know. We know whatever you're coming up with is complex because Neku can't even pick up bits of it from you, though he admits it might be partially because of me. That's beside the point though; the more complex you make it, the longer it'll take him to work on it."

"Already thought of that," I lied. "A bit of magic and some assistance from Vanitas will handle one part, Zexion's Lexicon will handle a second, and all I'll need from you will be a couple of little things. The rest depends on how convincing I can be, and how irritated my Heartless is by then."

"I hope he's right," Roxas muttered, but got up to leave anyway.

The card opened the door into the familiar area just outside Merlin's house, which never seems to change. It had looked exactly the same to me when the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee had set up shop there, and still the same – if slightly quieter – when Merlin in the past had enhanced my magic on Yen Sid's request.

What was not the same however was the skyline rising above it. The tower later also known as Hollow Bastion was in much better shape and had no Heartless emblem on it, gleaming brightly in the afternoon sunlight. The buildings at the base of the hill it stood on were similarly resplendent, and the sound of rushing water coupled with the strong floral scents and all we could see told me exactly where we were.

"Radiant Garden. This is part of the time Xigbar sent me back in time. I came here with Ventus when Mickey's Star Shard activated unexpectedly. Terra and Aqua were here too, we fought a giant Unversed here together."

"That explains it," Vanitas murmured. "I could feel an Unversed that wasn't under my control. That's probably it."

"Perhaps. There should be three parts, if memory serves. They only unified into the Trinity Armour after the four of us encountered it. Say, Mickey where did you end up?"

"When this happened? I landed in the upper gardens, just outside Ansem's tower there. Saw some Unversed going after Kairi, so I stepped in to get her to safety alongside Aqua. We going or not?" he added.

"Alright, alright. Don't rush me."

"You're inconsistent, Lee," Riku laughed. "First you say you want to get a move on, then you tell us not to rush you."

"Consistency is the defence of a small mind," I shrugged. "Or so I was told once. Eyes open people, there may be Unversed around here, Vanitas – the one I encountered just after the Trinity Armour, and-"

"And that," Sora finished as a part of the Trinity Armour flew overhead.

"Follow that Unversed!"

I seem to spend a lot of my adventures chasing enemies. It's almost as if it's become a habit.


	41. Restoring the Light

Following the piece of the Trinity Armour was not as easy as it had been before. For one thing, Castle Oblivion seemed insistent on sending me round most of Radiant Garden before it allowed me anywhere near it, the armour piece keeping just ahead of us the whole time. No sooner did we enter one area than it was spotted leaving it again.

We were, however, saved the inconvenience of having to battle the Castle's Unversed as Vanitas simply countered them with his own, occasionally backed up by a bit of magic. Very rarely did any of us have to fight them directly, not that it made much difference because the tides of Unversed got in the way anyway.

Our route seemed at first to take us along the same path Ventus and I had taken – from our landing point in the square up the long path through the aqueduct to the Ansem's castle itself, then back down again. The Trinity Armour hadn't gone this way with us, we had first spotted it up at the castle, but Castle Oblivion didn't seem to care.

Interestingly, we did not see any of the original residents along the way. Even Merlin, who had pestered me outside his house at Yen Sid's request, was missing.

During a pause just before we entered the reactor area, Mickey took me to one side.

"When did that happen?" he asked without any preamble.

"What?"

"Your hands. They're back to normal."

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I guess I wasn't paying attention to them. You've only just noticed?"

Mickey nodded, "Riku pointed it out to me though. He could probably tell you when they were restored."

"I'll ask him at some point. It's not really all that important."

"I don't know how can you just shrug it of so easily. Everyone else has more trouble with the darkness than you. How do you manage it?"

"Badly," I laughed. "It's called attention to detail. I can tell more or less how bad it is and I keep it from getting out of control by using it before it reaches that level. With Data-Riku's help, I haven't needed to do that for a bit-" I broke off, watching one hand as it briefly flared a dark flame.

_"Sorry,"_ Data-Riku's voice sounded. _"Zexion and I are experimenting a bit. I sent a little the wrong way."_

_"Well be more careful next time,"_ I muttered back, then to Mickey, "He just made a slight mistake up there, that's all. Why don't we move on? It looks like the Unversed have been driven back far enough."

I could have asked to find out what he was up to upstairs, but I had enough on my mind as it was just keeping everything moving, let alone planning ahead – not a hard task for some, but planning isn't something that comes easily to me.

The Trinity Armour awaited us on the reactor area ahead, and without a word from me the Samurais supplemented our ranks once again. Without the distraction of a freely obtainable heart, they were no longer troublesome and held ranks with the Unversed without any issues.

I didn't even have to say anything as all but Sora, Vanitas, Roxas and Naminé went into battle. They appeared to know what they were doing, the Samurais calling out Heartless that could fly again so they wouldn't clutter up the lower battlefield. Vanitas kept the Unversed in check, holding them back from the main fight except for his own flying forces.

Mickey and Riku headed into the thick of it with only a handful of Heartless to support them. Donald, recently brought up to speed by Mickey, provided most of their aid magically, ducking out from behind the protective cover of a Large Body Heartless to cast his spells.

"Not going to join in?" I asked Sora, who had decided to remain nearby.

"Riku and I talked it over and figured you ought to have someone nearby, just in case. Vanitas has to concentrate on the Unversed, and Roxas always has his nose in the book. Anyone's guess why, probably trying to help us even more. I doubt you could pull Naminé away from him right now, so you aside, I'm the only one here to defend them."

"Not that they need it," I pointed out. "I've got more than enough magic to handle anything that comes this way."

"Right up until the point you have to finish off the battle again," Sora pointed out. "From what I gather, you've always had to be the one to finish these fights. If not by defeating the enemy personally, scaring them off like you did your Heartless."

"That only takes a few moments, and then only really at the end."

"Don't you like our company?" he teased, grinning broadly.

"Don't you start too. Bad enough Riku was getting back at me for all the passes I made at him last time."

Sora looked just a little more serious and cautious, then after a time finally said what was on his mind.

"You... you're not really serious about him, are you?"

"You know me better than that, Sora. Or at least you should. I have a crush on him, I tease him, but I'm not going to leave my boyfriend. I won't be as bad as some others on my world and leave him the first chance I get with someone else. Loyalty is something that often seems to be lacking there."

"I know what it's like there. I think you ought to consider Mickey's suggestion though."

"Tempting as it is -" I broke off, quickly spelled a barrier into existance as the Trinity Armour let loose a laser blast at us, then when the noise subsided tried again. "Tempting as it is, you heard what I said. I've got too many responsibilities back there." I paused again, then added, "You're welcome to stop by and visit, of course. Just remember not to look conspicuous."

Sora didn't answer that, though more because he quickly moved to intercept the head of the Trinity Armour in its attempt to reach Vanitas. After a short fight between them it backed clear from him only to pass me.

I simply held it in place with Gravity, sent a blast of Thunder at it, then finished it off with a strike from the remains of my Keyblade. Now as I understand it, destroying the head is meant to finish the battle entirely, but the remaining parts continued their fight unawares.

The head itself didn't vanish immediately though. It turned completely white, then a phantom wind blew it away in a stream of dust, leaving an outline of a person etched in white in the air. The dust was brought back to fill in that outline, forming a ghostly image of Ventus himself.

Ven winked at me, calling Wayward Wind to his hand, as he did so leaving similarly filmy after-images in the wake of his arm. Then still trailing those same images, he joined in the battle on his own.

"Did you do that?" I heard Sora ask Roxas.

"No," Roxas answered. "It looks like he took action on his own.

I left them alone seeing Ven take down the arms of the Armour, teaming up with him to finish off the last parts. He strangely made no sounds where he attacked, but the remaining parts of the Trinity Armour reacted all the same. One of the two feet fell to him just as I similarly finished the other foot.

_"Well you didn't think I'd leave you to do this fight all on your own, did you?"_ Ven's voice sounded in my head as the image smiled and faded away again. _"We fought it together before, why not do it again?"_

As the sounds of departing Unversed, Samurai and Heartless came from all around, I noticed the card left behind this time was not black like all the others had been but white instead, and also that my Keyblade had not lost another piece.

The white card had an image on both sides, on one side a depiction of the Keyblade of People's Hearts in its current condition, crossed with my own Gilded Light. The other held an image of Kairi.

"Roxas," I called. "Care to explain this?"

It wasn't Roxas who came to my side though. Naminé approached, taking the card from me to examine it intently.

"Lend me your Keyblade a moment," she told me quietly.

"You can't wield a Keyblade, Naminé," Riku protested.

"Kairi did. And I'm the data of her Nobody. I can take it," she insisted.

I chose not to question her. Something was going on here that I didn't fully understand, but clearly she did. In other circumstances I might have made a few inquiries, but I trusted her, reversing the grip on the Keyblade to hold it by the blade.

Naminé took it from me, laying it on the ground in front of her with the Kairi card resting over the remains of the Key.

"Now give me the Roxas card you've got," she ordered.

This time it was Sora who objected, "The cards don't work for anyone except Liam. Not since we did away with Neku's idea of limited companions."

He might have objected, but I overruled him simply by handing her the card she asked for. The others had gathered around to look on curiously, but giving her room. She set the Roxas card down over the grip of the Keyblade.

"What now?" I asked when she paused again.

"You need to form a circle around Liam and me," she answered. "Then focus your thoughts on Kairi, and when you met Liam. Try to get him before he had his darkness, it'll make things easier on us."

"What about me?"

"You're going to be the focus," she replied. "You don't need to do anything except open yourself up to me. I can handle the rest."

Notice here that despite the many questions any of us might have wanted to ask, we all put them aside and trusted in her completely, having no idea what she was doing or what would happen.

I can't say for sure exactly what happened next. I can tell you what I saw, but what was seen was probably only a small part of what was going on. I remember seeing a dome of light cover us, starting just in front of the circle around us, touched with grey only where Riku and Vanitas stood, perhaps as a representation of the darkness in them. Images flickered over it that I assume were the memories each of them were thinking of.

Naminé had not gotten up from the Keyblade she'd placed on the floor, keeping close watch over it. I couldn't see any reaction, but then I didn't know what I was looking for. She gestured for me to kneel nearby, taking one of my hands and closing it around her own, then with her other hand touched on the card for Kairi, down the Keyblade to Roxas. Where she touched, the Keyblade took on a light glow that reflected the images playing over the dome.

Then, to the surprise of all, the card for Kairi disappeared to be replaced with the real thing – or at least the Data version held within the Keyblade. The other piece of the key disappeared with her, but Naminé wasn't done yet. She shared a momentary look with Kairi, who seemed to understand what was going on. Kairi took my other hand, linking her remaining hand with Naminé's, and then everything was white to me.

I felt two hands leave my own hands before that light flash faded, and I also distinctly heard Charlie give another howl of frustration from far above. When it cleared, both of them and the dome were all gone.

So was the Keyblade of People's Hearts. In place of it, restored to me at last, was Gilded Light, waiting for me to take it up, and just beyond it where Kairi and Naminé had been were Tron and Goofy.

Almost hesitantly, I willed the Keyblade to return to me, bracing for a jolt like the one it had given me when it had rejected my darkness and refused to answer, but no such jolt came. It practically jumped into my hand.

"A miracle," Mickey breathed, awestruck. "How did they..." he trailed off, looking to Roxas, but Roxas looked just as puzzled.

"I didn't know exactly what she was up to," he told us. "She asked Neku to work on keeping Charlie out, and Neku promised to talk to Sora's book for a little extra aid, but that's all I can tell you."

"Are you two alright?" I asked the newly restored due before me.

"I dunno," Goofy answered. "I think I am. Memories a bit of a blur though."

"Tron?"

"I seem to have made it through with only a misaligned clock," he replied. "I was able to keep up with what you've been doing by directly interfacing with the datascape. I managed to lock out Data-Sora again, by the way. Your friend Charlie is having a bit of a bad day."

"I think I can bear that. Why don't we all get out into the next white room and get all the details out the way so we're all on the same field?"

I may have sounded calm, but what had happened had shaken even me. Like other things, I can hide it well though – and I was leading this little party, and when you're the leader you don't let that kind of thing show. It tends to upset the confidence others have in you.


	42. The Grand Plan

Tron accepted what had happened with his usual cheer, completely unconcerned with the fact that for a time, he'd been a part of the weapon I'd held. Mind you, I'm not entirely certain if he can feel anything, it's hard to tell.

Similarly, Goofy trusted what we told him without an issue. Donald raised a few questions as he usually does, but mostly just where he'd been told slightly different by one of the others. Different people have different viewpoints, after all. Whenever they couldn't decide, they just turned to Roxas, who with Neku's book in hand was quite content to settle their disputes even while the two of them were busily working on the next world card. Just two more of those left – in theory. Theories never translate properly to reality though, or had you noticed that?

As I had for most of the previous between-floor pauses, I more or less kept to myself, watching the others. I'm not by nature a talkative person, I prefer to watch and listen. You can learn a great deal that way.

Once the business of bringing everyone up to date had been handled, they broke up into little groups. Donald and Axel took Goofy aside to see if they could work on some of the magic Goofy had – while not much, some time back I'd encouraged Donald to teach him a bit to give him a little extra edge. Axel's focus on fire to the exclusion of other elements would undoubtedly help their own magic, and maybe he'd pick up a few spells from outside his home field.

Mickey and Sora were in a discussion of their own over Sora's book. He'd elected not to tell us her name, or even if she had one unlike Neku. Maybe they didn't have names unless they picked one, maybe they had names that we couldn't pronounce. For all I know, they just don't want us to know their names because it might give us some power over them. Some forms of magic work that way, at least.

Tron was on his own, having opened a partially transparent console in mid-air that he was using to examine the code for something on. Don't ask me what – I didn't even recognise the language the code was written in, let alone what it was for.

Roxas, naturally, had taken to keeping out the way, sitting on the steps before the next floor talking to Neku. Actually talking as well, not just writing. I imagine he picked that up from my habitual talking to what the unknowing observer would have seen as an inanimate object.

Vanitas and Riku appeared to be having an involved and rather animated argument on the finer points of the darkness. Vanitas, as he was the dark side of Data-Sora and therefore completely aligned to the darkness, argued that he had little reason to turn to anything else. Riku was doing his best to convince him otherwise, and when that failed he picked up a different tack.

"If you're so insistent on staying with the darkness, why follow him?" he demanded, gesturing to me. "You know he doesn't take the same view."

"Oh, I know the Master and I are technically on opposite sides," Vanitas admitted. "But I'm just temporary. Data-Sora and I will end up being recombined when we reach the Keyblade Graveyard, and since he's the original the chances are he'll be the only one to come out of it."

"You... just accept that?"

"Of course. I've known it was going to happen since the moment he created me. I didn't know all the details then, like what he wanted me to do or why he'd have me do it, but when you get right down to it I don't really need to. As long as the Master knows what he's doing."

"That's a lot of trust to give to one guy. Sure you should be doing that?"

"Strange question," Vanitas noted. "It's almost as if you're asking that more generally – as if you were questioning your own trust in him."

"What? No, I didn't mean that. Of course I trust him. Just not as completely as you are."

"Don't you like me any more?" I teased from nearby. "There's another point too, you know Riku. Darkness has its issues, of course. You and I both know that. But who says it has to be bad in general? Good and evil are human definitions-"

Mickey coughed with a meaningful look to Donald and Goofy.

"Are definitions made by intelligent and sentient people," I corrected with a faint edge. I don't take being corrected well. "Darkness itself isn't necessarily inherently evil, it's the way it's used that defines that."

"Isn't it a bit late in the day for a philosophical dissertation on the finer points of good and evil?" Riku asked a bit acidly.

"I've no idea," I replied. "I have no sense of time. I couldn't even tell you what time of day it is. Sometimes when I get engrossed in a subject I couldn't even tell you what day it is, much less the time. I can lose whole hours that way, but I've never really been in much of a rush."

"What about here?" Roxas called. "You're in a bit of a hurry to finish up here, aren't you?"

"Don't mistake hurrying for rushing," I replied. "How long are you going to be, anyway?"

"Neku's just creating the card-world now," he answered. "We decided to skip sending you to Ventus's Olympus Coliseum and go right ahead to the next event. Technically it doesn't directly relate to your darkness as such, but we agreed it served the purpose."

"You're not gonna tell us what it is, are you?" Mickey inquired.

"Of course not. It might change how you react. What's Data-Riku up to, by the way?"

"Give me a moment and I'll pester him to find out," I said, then focused my thought back on to the link to him. _"What's going on up there, Riku?"_

_"Data-Sora is fighting Marluxia now,"_ he reported. _"We're keeping out of it, watching through a viewing orb Marluxia left behind on the floor before. Zexion wanted to supply an illusion or two to try and slow Sora down, but I pointed out we were trying not to let on that we were getting involved, and he might pick up on it."_

_"How long do you think he'll be?"_

_"Sora? Not long. Marluxia's faring very badly. He's already on his third form – the one you turned against him when you fought him, even if you don't remember it. About the only thing slowing him down is Marluxia's frequent scattering of his cards. I think Neku forced him to use the cards too, probably to slow him down a bit, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference."_

_"Let me know when he starts moving, will you?"_

The return silence communicated his feelings clearly.

_"Alright, so maybe that was a bit obvious,"_ I admitted.

_"You don't say, oh mighty leader," _Data-Riku replied with vast sarcasm.

I left him alone at that and conveyed the details to Roxas.

"A bit ahead of where we expected," he observed almost clinically. "We might have to use those alterations we came up with," he told the book.

Rather surprisingly, for the first time since having handed the book over to Roxas, Neku appeared in person. He hadn't bothered to recreate the missing headphones, and as if to further prove himself different to the true Neku who presumably I'll meet when that adventure happens to me, he'd changed the colours of his shirt to one matching the cover of his book. It didn't really suit him, but I wasn't about to criticise his choice.

"Little premature, don't you think?" he asked Roxas. "There's still thirteen floors between him and us, along with two Nobodies and our enhanced Data-Riku."

"Even he admitted he doesn't have a high chance of coming out of it though," Roxas pointed out. "The two Nobodies aren't going to fare much better than Marluxia, we know that. All that's really standing in his way is one battle and a lot of empty rooms."

"You have a point, I suppose," he agreed a little reluctantly, then turned to me. "Well, Liam. It looks like it's time for you to let us in on your part of the plan."

"I already told you, I'll cover it when we get there," I replied wearily.

"It won't work that way. The alteration he and I are discussing is a kind of 'just in case' plan we came up with. If Data-Sora moves, we'll have to quit everything here and head over to the Graveyard earlier to ensure you get there ahead of time. And if that happens while we're in the middle of a floor, you'll be short of time. Lets get it out and over with now."

"It's not really all that complex once you break it down into the various component parts," I conceded.

"Your plans usually aren't," Neku said.

"Did you want to hear the plan, or did you want to discuss my failings?"

My plan was, as said, fairly simple. Some good strong Aero magic combined with the Heartless, Samurais and Unversed we had would form a copy of the massive tornadoes that appear in the valley approaching the fields of Keyblades, like the ones Ven, Terra and Aqua probably encountered. That would buy us a little extra time if we needed it.

I was planning to steal another leaf out of Xehanort's book next, concealing everyone else will a primary illusion that Neku, after hearing the whole plan, told me he'd take care of. Everyone except Vanitas that was. He and I would approach Data-Sora and anyone accompanying him just as Xehanort had done.

So I'm not very creative with these things. Give me a break, it's the first time I've ever personally been a villain like this.

There was no point in the theatrical speech Xehanort had given at that point. I planned to have a few words to say, sure. But different words. Then when it reached the inevitable point where Data-Sora, if not someone else, almost attacked me, I'd poise a simple question – 'How can you be sure I'm the real Liam?'

At that point, Neku would lift the primary illusion and replace it with a second one that would make all except Vanitas appear to be me. The rest I admitted I'd make up as I went along. That didn't exactly go down too well. The only certainties were that Vanitas and Data-Sora would have to be brought together again, which would theoretically forge the blade Neku was so afraid of. I hoped that with that threat on the table and all of us opposing Data-Sora, Charlie might be prompted to intervene in person. If Vanitas hadn't wrested control from Data-Sora to eliminate Charlie himself, I was willing to take the X-blade off him and do it myself.

"No," Neku told me firmly. "Absolutely not. I won't let you get your hands on that blade, even if I have to pick you up by the neck and throw you away from it. You've got your own battle to fight with your Heartless, and you can bet he'll be there with Data-Sora."

"Someone will have to. We know Data-Sora is opposed to us, and I doubt he'll be willing to turn on Charlie."

"I can handle him," Vanitas insisted calmly.

"Call it another just-in-case measure then."

"I'd be more inclined to believe Vanitas," Neku told me.

"You'd be more inclined to let almost anyone get it than me," I accused.

"We've gone over that before, Liam. Just let it be. I won't appear in person again, by the way. At least, not until all this is over with. I don't care to take my chances near that blade, and I'm sure she feels the same," he nodded to Sora's book. "I'm going to keep Roxas clear of what happens no matter what, so I'll be as far out of danger as possible."

"Just one question," Sora asked. "How are you going to get them to come to the Graveyard?"

"Xehanort isn't immune to me," Neku shrugged. "I've planted the idea in his mind that he'll be able to take Data-Sora there. It'll bring them to us at the right moment."

"Xehanort, Data-Sora and Anti-Liam," Riku mused. "Three of them, just like last time. If it wasn't for the differences between them, I'd almost believe it wasn't a coincidence."

"It isn't," Neku responded. "This is Liam you're talking about, and he's plagiarising from Xehanort. My brother won't show up until he doesn't have any choice, and he isn't going to be happy. Not that I imagine that comes as a surprise." He held out his hand then, a blue card flashing into it that he tossed to me. "Get moving," he told me. "You don't know how long you've got until we have to change the scenery entirely. And Liam... best of luck. In case I don't get to say it before it happens."

His faith in me was touching. His adamant refusal to let me near the X-blade if Data-Sora beat Vanitas, somewhat less so.


	43. Nature of the Nobody

The world the card gave us was that of Enchanted Dominion. The only world in the past I'd been to without any of Eraqus' apprentices, and one place I hadn't been happy about my actions while there.

Necessity had meant that despite whatever personal reservations I might have had, I had to help Maleficent in the initial stages of her attempt to take over all worlds. Mostly because there was someone else meddling that had to be persuaded to stop it.

We arrived in a part of Maleficent's dilapidated old stronghold, with the Unversed going on ahead with the map cards they continued to hoard.

"Why're we here, Lee?" Mickey asked me.

"You know back when we stormed the Organization's castle, I mentioned Maleficent owed me a favour?"

"I remember that," Riku mused.

"You would," I replied. "You seemed to have a bit of trouble believing it. Anyway, this is the time where I picked up that favour. If it holds true to the actual events, we'll see Master Xehanort talking to Maleficent, some more Heartless, a few Nobodies and-"

"Xigbar," Vanitas finished. "Over in the other castle."

"That's where he should be. Did you spot Maleficent?"

"Busy adoring herself in her throne room, if you can call it that."

"We don't want to keep her waiting now, do we? Why don't we move on?"

"I'm sure I can think of something," Riku muttered. He sounded as if he still resented having gone with Maleficent at the start.

The place hadn't changed much since the original visit, though that could be explained by it having been formed from my memories. The Castle's doors made it simpler to get around, and the useful reports Vanitas gave us even more so.

Somehow, the aged Master Xehanort – the memory of him, in cause you're having trouble keeping some of us straight – had managed to appear in Maleficent's throne room without the Unversed noticing. Unlike the last time, where I'd been alone but for Roxas, both he and Maleficent noticed us troop into the room.

"How _dare_ you interrupt!" Maleficent said indignantly.

"Don't mind us," I told her. "We're just passing through."

"Passing through? From my dungeons? I think not!"

"Don't be tiresome, Maleficent. Just keep out of our way." Then to Master Xehanort, who was looking at me speculatively. "Well?"

"Did I say something?" he replied innocently.

"You were thinking loud enough to be heard. Did you want something?"

"Someday, you're going to get yourself in trouble," he told me pointedly.

"Nothing new there then. Like I said, just don't mind us. We'll be on our way."

Maleficent, as usual, was having none of that. She created a barrier to hold us in, then started throwing lightning at us. Master Xehanort hadn't budged at all, watching with interest as I sent her magic right back at her.

When she realized lightning was useless she fell back on firestorms, then interspersed the two with an occasional Heartless. They were just distractions though, and hardly worth note. During the exchange, Sora came up behind me and murmured, "Keep her attention – I've got an idea," then was gone again.

There wasn't much I could do really. This was Maleficent before most of the Heartless, reliant on her own power only. It was easy to counter, but equally, easy for her to avoid when it came back again.

So I started experimenting with magic again. I don't recall the exact combinations I used, and I'm fairly sure I stopped even bothering to use pieces of other spells to create new ones. Mind you, that's the way magic's meant to work – the outcome entirely based on what you want.

First a light mist started to drift through her flaming barriers into the room, wandering up to the top of the throne room. She paid it little attention – how much of a threat could mist be, after all? That magic wasn't done yet though, so while I waited I started throwing new things at her. A red gash in the air that appeared harmless enough as it sailed past her then detonated – but inward. It drew in chunks of stone, then when there was a small rocky sphere it showered her with the compressed pieces. She started to be a little more wary of the more innocuous seeming magic after that.

Then after a few moments, more out of curiosity to see if I could pull it off, I sent a mix of time-based magic into the air between us that was so complex I had no idea how it would react to the rest of the magic in the air. On one side of the room just between two pillars, Sora emerged out of thin air, then vanished again. Two pillars behind that, Sora was also present, sneaking up the stairs – then he too vanished, and reappeared a bit further up.

Maleficent's magic was similarly affected. Some of her spells headed for me slowed down almost to the point of stopping, then crossed some unseen boundary and sped up a great deal. Other magic, like Sora, vanished into the air. Occasionally it reappeared not long after, but more often than not the result of the spell appeared before she'd even cast it. Complex time magic I'd put in place. With a short lifetime on it, just to be safe.

When it did cancel out, the mist at the top of the room had thickened into dark grey clouds. They rumbled, echoing about the chamber and causing several more chunks of rock to fall. Maleficent paused in consternation when she realized she shouldn't have ignored the mist.

Then it rained. Not normal rain which is just wet. This was a rain of as pure light as I could manage. Master Xehanort was first to react to that, quickly fleeing the scene. Maleficent chose to stay to try to weather out the storm, but any magic she raised was quickly sliced through by the rain. The rest of us, protected from the effects with some careful magic involved that made it ignore us, just waited.

Light magic doesn't last very long for some reason though. I could have continued with other magic, but Sora had sneaked up behind her. Stealing a line from me, he tapped her shoulder saying, "Excuse me."

I don't know what it is about those two words. Everyone seems to react the same to them – turning to see who it is and what they want, regardless of what's going on. Maleficent was no exception.

"Thanks," Sora grinned, then shoved her from the edge above.

If what we saw was anything to go by, it's hard to cast magic when you're falling. She certainly gave us that impression at least. All that was left afterwards were her staff and an empty cloak.

"You know Sora," Riku spoke up. "You're starting to seem more like Lee. That's just the sort of thing he'd do."

"Me?" I asked innocently. "Would I ever do a thing like that?"

"I know you would, and that you did."

"How did you find that out?"

"Last time your Nobody dropped in on the islands without you. He left me with a copy of the books to read. You know, the ones that look as if you wrote them to tell what happened to you."

"Oh. Those books. Nice of him to tell me."

"You're a busy guy," he grinned. "He just didn't want to bother you with it."

"I think I'm going to have to talk to Roxas and find out what else he's done without telling me," I muttered.

The barriers that had prevented us from moving on had disappeared without Maleficent to fuel them. On the way out, I noticed Vanitas' was conspicuously absent.

"Leave them alone," I called back to him. He had Maleficent's staff in one hand, looking at it speculatively.

"I wasn't really... I mean I was just curious," he explained lamely.

"Just put it down. They're only memories anyway."

Unsurprisingly, without Maleficent around the rest of her stronghold was completely free of resistance. There were a few scouting Nobodies from Xigbar, but they were swiftly dealt with. None of them reported back.

"Hey, Liam," Mickey said rather suddenly as we tracked down toward the greener valleys. "What are ya planning to do when all this blows over?"

"Go back home and let Roxas have a go at me for not asking him to cover for me," I chuckled. "Not to mention he'll probably have a few complaints about what I've been doing once he finds out."

"I meant before then."

"I don't really have any plans. I suppose if you've got something in mind – something that isn't going to take so long – I can put off heading back for a bit. Why do you ask?"

"You might wanna stop by Yen Sid on your way out. I don't know why, it's just this feeling I got. I don't suppose you might..." he trailed off, looking hopeful.

"Might what? Tell you what I think is going to happen?"

"You _do_ always seem to know."

"There were reasons it seemed like that, Mickey. I never really saw the future as such, just a possibility of what it could have been had Sora and I never traded places. And even that was an imperfect reference once I started changing things."

"So you don't really see, huh? What about what you said back in the Underworld?" He paused, made sure Sora and Riku weren't in earshot before he went on. "About it not being time for them to take the Mark of Mastery. If you don't see, how do you know that?"

"It's a little hard to explain," I answered evasively. I really didn't want to tell Mickey he was just a character in a game. Even if this wasn't exactly those games. It didn't feel right somehow. "Maybe sometime I'll explain it, but for now just trust me. It isn't time yet, that will happen in it's own time. I hope."

Mickey seemed troubled by that, going apart to consider it. As he left, Roxas joined me.

"Interesting conversation," he noted. "Neku figured out what I am, by the way."

"Oh? Something suitably interesting?"

"Not really. I'm Sora's Nobody – the one that should have existed until you shoved him aside and created your own. But since he never created me, I never came into existance – but since the story requires me to be present, I was also at the same time present. When you got to the scene where you and Sora are meant to create your Nobodies, all that potential existance – Neku's term, not mine – gave me form."

"Interesting theory. Did he find out why you're immune to the books?"

"Yeah. Turns out it's related to that. He blames himself for it. I'm immune because I wasn't meant to exist in your story. Nothing took me into account, so technically Neku is responsible for that immunity. Which we found he can borrow if I hold his book. That's a lot of how we've managed to keep Charlie out the way. He can't affect me, and with Neku borrowing that Charlie can't stop him from doing anything either."

"I wondered why things had gotten a bit easier since I gave you his book. You are planning on giving it back, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. Neku insisted on it. His exact words were, 'I wouldn't like it if one of my relatives was borrowing immunity like I am, so I'm not going to keep it any longer than we need to.'"

"Sounds just like the sort of thing I'd say," I laughed.

"The two of you are very alike, you know," Roxas agreed. "Similar sense of morality to you. You do what you consider to be the right thing to do, never mind whether it's good, and you're not afraid to take the consequences."

"Whatever works," I shrugged. "I just-" I broke off as the voice of Data-Riku broke into my mind.

_"Liam! Get ready – Marluxia is down! He's on his way for you right now!"_

Roxas was shrewd enough not to need me to relay that.

"Now?" was all he asked.

"No," I decided. "We wait until the two of them clash upstairs. There's no point in waiting around the Graveyard if they haven't met yet. We don't need that long to prepare anyway."

Neku's book flipped open in Roxas's hand, writing something.

"Here," Roxas told me, holding it over for me to see. "It's for you."

'Xehanort knows what you're up to,' he'd written. 'He's taking steps already. You may have to fight your way to the Keyblade Graveyard.'

I considered that for a moment, then had an idea. "Terra's still there, isn't here?"

'It's not like he's going anywhere.'

"Would you ask him if he'd care to lend us a hand? I'm sure he'll be only too happy to help out when he finds out Xehanort is coming to visit him."

"That's nasty," Roxas laughed.

"Good though," I added.


	44. The Darkness Returns

The green hills and chalk white cliffs of Enchanted Dominion would have been their usual more peaceful selves if it wasn't for an ever-increasing tide of Nobodies. Our portable armies in the Heartless and Unversed took the brunt of that, with the Samurais that chose to help me taking up a rear-guard action between them and us.

Even then the tides just kept on coming, no longer limited to just Dusks and Snipers but all kinds of Nobodies. The few Samurais that came against us suddenly realized we had their friends on our side and quickly turned on their hapless former comrades.

Knowing that we could end up having to head to the Keyblade Graveyard at any moment, I chose not to fall back on supplying magic to the fight. The various collected others did not hold the same reservations, making up for that by throwing a barrage of spells over the heads of our forces.

When progress came to a complete standstill, I threw a quick glance to Roxas, who shook his head.

"Too many on the scene," he explained. "The more are there, the harder it is to aim things right."

I gave that some thought then took out one of the remaining cards I'd picked up, the only one not dedicated to one of my forms. Roxas had given it to me not long after Sora had shown up to lend a hand – the card that held both Xaldin's lances and Marluxia's Scythe.

"Here," I told him, handing it over. "At the very least you'll be able to defend yourself with them."

Roxas looked doubtful, but focused momentarily on the card. Xaldin's lances formed up around him, one of them almost leaping into his free hand – the other still holding Neku's book, of course.

He wasn't the only one who looked surprised by my next choice of actions. Rather than staying out of the main battle to direct everyone as I had before, I decided it was about time I got stuck in again.

Fighting with even one Keyblade is not like riding a bike or swimming – you have to do it constantly – that or train by yourself – to keep in practice or you'll start to slip. Knowing full well I was going to have to face off against my Heartless yet again, I wasn't going to take the chance.

My only concession to my self-imposed rule of drawing on my magic was a brief spell that launched me over the front lines and into the tide of Nobodies. A handy Berserker Nobody provided a decent landing pad, then I cleared out the nearest Nobodies in short order. They hadn't been expecting to get into a fight before they met our forces, least of all with me. I deal badly when surprised, but they handled it even worse.

Once I had a clear spot I paused briefly to take out the card for Master form, bringing it into effect and with it a second Keyblade to my off-hand. Interestingly, it was Oblivion. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't Oblivion.

The uneven terrain caused few troubles for both sides, but it wasn't so much inconvenient as it was in the way. Being separated and ahead of the others, every trick was worth use here, including turning the terrain against one's enemies.

In this case it was simply handled, not by holding the high ground but a fair sized hillock instead. Even then I stayed only part-way up it. Why? Because whenever anyone got too close behind me, they very suddenly found their legs had stopped cooperating. Even Nobodies will start to learn after a while, and they began to avoid me.

The Sorcerer Nobodies then started to attack, perceiving my apparent unwillingness to throw magic around and keeping just out of reach as they attacked in an attempt to draw me into using my own. I quick shout to Vanitas and some of the Unversed swarmed down to pick them off.

_"We are losing the Heartless!" _the voice of one Samurai came to me. _"The Nobodies are being directed by another, and are focusing on our Heartless forces – the supply is starting to dwindle now, and there are fewer of us left to command them! You must do something!"_

"As if I didn't have enough to worry about," I muttered, not that there was anyone to hear. To make things worse, my time in Master form was up and even though these were based on the cards instead there was still a time I had to wait before using any other form.

That slowed me down, as it left me once again with only one Keyblade, but my own stubbornness refused to let me fall back to rejoin the others.

Then as if to make things worse still, another voice sounded in my mind. _"I've got heavy resistance up here Liam," _Data-Riku told me. _"Data-Sora's got Xehanort with him and the two of them are starting to take big chunks out of our defences."_

_"We're a little busy down here, Riku," _I told him. _"Hold him off as long as you can."_

_"I'll get some Unversed up there to help you," _Vanitas told him, borrowing the link momentarily. I'd felt his presence there, but for the most part he seemed to keep to himself.

I recalled what Roxas had said about the trouble aiming things with too many around and reluctantly started pushing my way back toward the few remaining Heartless. Even the Samurais were having to fight this time, and they were having just as much trouble.

As soon as I reached them I gave them probably the last command I'd issue while here. "Get our Heartless to safety," I ordered them. "Make sure they get out of the datascape, or as close to the way out as you can. Then do the same for yourselves. There's no point in losing all of you."

_"Even the Heartless?"_ one asked, startled. _"Knowing what they could do?"_

"I made an agreement with them that turned these Heartless into our allies, and I'm not about to turn my back on that just because of this. Now get moving!"

The Heartless quickly evacuated the field of battle, closely followed by the mass crackling sounds that accompanied the Samurais departing. The attacking Nobodies seemed rallied by that but kept a healthy wariness of me after I'd decimated any one that came too close.

"Was that a good idea?" Sora asked, fending off a Berserker's blade. He smashed it to one side, then spun on the spot to kick hard at one of its knees. It stumbled back a bit, then Sora turned back and practically crushed it against the ground with his own Gravity spell.

"You heard what I said," I told him. "I'm not going to let them get exterminated just because of what they are. That's not the way to treat your allies."

"Liam," Axel called, "I need some help over here!"

It didn't take me long to find him surrounded by yet more Berserker Nobodies – whoever was directing these Nobodies seemed fond of them, perhaps because they were tougher to handle. I was on the outside of them, which made it easier, but even then there was only so much I could do.

Then I had another little epiphany.

"Roxas, are you free?" I called.

"One moment," he grunted back, followed by, "And take that with you! I'm free now, Liam – what do you need?"

"New experiment," I replied, ducking under a passing Sorcerer's attack. "I need to keep my magic untouched for the Graveyard, so I need to draw off someone else's and borrow theirs. Think you can arrange something?"

There was a pause during which I heard Mickey put out a spell I couldn't tell you the name of, but whatever it was, it was a far more potent version of even Curaga.

"You need to be close to someone else," Roxas replied eventually. "Preferably the one you want to borrow from."

"It'll have to do, I'm right by Axel."

"You're going to borrow _my_ magic?" Axel demanded. "You know you won't be able to use all your spells – I'm a fire specialist, remember."

"Already taking that into account," I replied. "Just get it going, Roxas."

"And done!"

Within moments of those two words I went to work. I could tell Axel's magic worked slightly differently because of his specialization, but Roxas had taken that into account and I knew how to work it. Fire answered my call even as it had Axel's, forming up around me in two long chains of flames, each one directed by the movements of one of my hands. It didn't take me long to weave them up and down, round and through, catching Nobodies with those twinned snakes of fire with ease. The nature of the magic I was borrowing coupled with my own use of it enhanced the effect immensely, destroying all but the most resilient Nobodies on contact.

Just as well that it did, because I was limited by Axel's capacity for magic while borrowing his, and the complexity of my use worked through it fairly quickly. In short order I'd driven back the Nobodies considerably, pushing us closer toward the bridge that lead to the main castle of this world.

When I ran out of magic, the effect allowing me to borrow it cancelled out and I had to quickly terminate the magic before it dipped too far into my own – where it had a higher cost because of my own lack of specialization.

As if the restoration of our two magics had been some kind of cue, I clearly heard Data-Riku sound the alarm. _"Watch out! He's on his-"_ he broke off, the sense of his presence gone – and with it, my darkness flared, no longer kept in check by his use of it.

"Get back!" I commanded in general, heading back for the Nobodies. I had a _lot_ of excess darkness on my hands, but it was controllable – as long as I dealt with it quickly.

Mickey recognised the signs of what I was doing even as I started to pull on Anti form. Vaguely I recalled something Riku had mentioned once and paused just after shifting form and, yes, I looked like a Novashadow that had stolen my clothes. Bit of an odd look.

The Nobodies recognised what was going on as well and started to focus on me, but with the darkness I unleashed on them they fared no better than they had before. By the time my darkness was back down at a manageable level I'd taken a massive chunk out of them and they'd started to fall back. All I hard to do was start towards them, and they broke ranks and fled.

"That's our cue, people," I told everyone. "Data-Riku's down – though you probably gathered. It's time."

There was nothing more that needed saying. Everyone knew it could happen at any point, everyone knew my plan – such as it was – and what to do. Now we had to make the last preparations... and wait.


	45. Battle's Eve

The Keyblade Graveyard was as dead and silent as it had ever been when nothing was happening. A faint breeze broke the silence with only a slight whistling, but it was otherwise undisturbed by any sound. Just as it had remained since the day I'd taken on the Lingering Will.

Of course, my memory of the place was slightly disrupted by my having also stopped by with Eraqus' apprentices, which to my mind happened after then – but in actuality happened before.

There was no sign of the steps Xehanort had taken, nor the signs of whatever Terra had done to clear them up for us. The whole place was almost serenely peaceful. It seemed almost a shame to disturb it somehow.

It didn't take us long to reach the gully where Roxas wordlessly left a number of massive tornadoes in, Vanitas supplying them with Unversed that would keep occupied anyone who came this way before time – and perhaps wear them down a little too.

Once on the field of lifeless Keyblades, Neku's arrangements took hold. Roxas warned us that we wouldn't be able to perceive the effects of the first illusion, which would hide all but Vanitas and myself from view, so it didn't actually look like anything had happened.

Then each of them took to a different part of the field in preparation. Not too distant, but neither too close to us.

Mickey paused as he left, then returned.

"Something on your mind?" I murmured.

"You said once you had some kind of experience in command, didn't you?"

"I don't like to talk about it... but yes. Why bring that up?"

"Look at some of your friends, Liam. They all know what they're about to come up against. Doubt is the last thing you want on their minds. Give them a few words, a little confidence."

"I know how to raise morale, Mickey. You don't need to tell me to do that."

"You might want to give some thought to it while there's still time."

"I'll think about it," I replied absently, glancing up to the rock formation where Terra's armour should have resided. It wasn't all that far away, looming almost overhead.

"Over there," Mickey told me, gesturing off to one side as he left. I followed that direction, seeing Terra had decided to continue to lend a hand having taken up a position not far from the exit of the gully.

"Stay here," I told Vanitas. "I'll need you to warn me if they get here too soon." Then I paused and added, "You _are_ ready for this, aren't you?"

"Don't worry, Master," he answered. "I know exactly what I have to do and who I have to do it to."

"Don't get overconfident. Remember to watch your back. Xehanort knows what we're up to, I wouldn't put it past him to come up with some way to inconvenience us."

"I'll watch for it."

I left him to wait, picking my way through the Keyblades. I won't even try to describe them – there are some very interesting looking ones, but there are just too many of them. Given how rare it is to find someone who can take up on, the idea there had been a time where seemingly everyone had one seemed almost unbelievable.

Terra, if even as the Lingering Will, made no reaction as I approached until I had almost reached him. The massive Ends of the Earth dipped sightly in acknowledgement of my presence.

"It's been a while since we last met, hasn't it?" I asked the immobile armour. He hadn't even looked over at me yet. "You haven't let yourself get rusty at all, have you? With your Keyblade, I mean." While his armour doesn't have an expression, somehow I got the impression I was getting a flat stare. "Just checking," I laughed. "I know you're always ready."

He continued to say nothing until I almost turned to leave, then: "Liam. Will this... make things right?"

I considered that for a long moment. In many ways, his sole goal was to see himself restored so he could do what he felt necessary to make amends, to correct what had happened. Anything else was almost completely irrelevant.

"I don't know," I replied eventually. "I won't say it can't do something to help, but I can't say there's much it will do."

"It's been eleven years, Liam. Isn't there anything?"

"There's always something, Terra. Just because I don't know what it is, doesn't mean it isn't there. Don't lose hope though – I'm certain things will change for the better soon."

"Your definition of 'soon' tends to cover long periods of time," Terra observed drily.

"I look at time differently to most people, that's why."

"Good luck, Liam," he told me eventually, clapping one armoured hand on my shoulder.

"You too. I appreciate this."

"What else are friends for?"

Oddly, I felt better for that short exchange. It hadn't really accomplished much, but I suspect that Terra's choice of words was more meant for my benefit than his. Almost as if he'd picked up on what Mickey had said and was trying to give me a bit of encouragement.

"I wish you could help too," I muttered to myself as I headed for the next nearest friend, who turned out to be Riku.

_"Me?"_ Ven asked.

"Well who else? How are you able to talk with me, anyway? I thought you stayed with Roxas."

_"Usually. You'll probably feel a little better for hearing the explanation."_

"Oh? Why's that?"

_"Well, have you noticed that no matter how much your darkness has beckoned to you here, it's never managed to overwhelm you? You've had trouble with it here and there, and that Anti form thing of yours really pushes it, but you've always kept your mind clear of its influences."_

"I guess I hadn't really stopped to think about it. How does that relate though?"

_"You mean you haven't guessed yet? When you were considering leaving Roxas behind, I had a bit of a bad feeling. I know what bad feelings are like for you and your Nobody, so I acted on it. I quietly persuaded your heart to stay somewhere safe – like with him – and... well, let mine slip into place after it. You've been borrowing from my heart for all your feelings all this time."_

"Ven, you sneaky little-"

_"Just learning from the best," _he laughed. _"You're a bad influence on me."_

"Somehow I don't think I mind after hearing that. Thanks Ven."

_"What Terra said. Just watch out for yourself – I didn't tag along only to let Xehanort get his way again."_

"Want a crack at him yourself?"

_"Tempting, but you'll probably be busy with your own Heartless. Maybe if you get the chance though. Better stop talking to me – at least out loud. Otherwise Riku will hear you."_

Riku had noticed me coming to see him though, and was already giving me a strange look.

"Haven't they tried packing you off to see a doctor about that yet?" he asked.

"They tried, but sent me back when they realized the voices in my head weren't mine," I grinned back.

"I should have known. Any particular reason you're making a pest of yourself?"

"I couldn't get enough of your company," I teased him.

"You're terrible," he laughed. "Even here you're still at it."

"C'mon, I never change. I'm just a big kid really." Then I grew more serious. "Will you be alright?"

"You shouldn't need to ask, Lee. I know what I'm doing. Terra will be busy with Xehanort, Vanitas with Data-Sora and you with your Heartless. The rest of us are here to keep your fights from interrupting each other and protect Roxas if we can."

"You're taking this well."

"Why shouldn't I? We'll pull through, just like we always do. If you believe that, things will go in your favour."

"Superstitious nonsense," I scoffed. "Besides, I'm a pessimist. At least that way if something does go right it's a nice surprise."

"Hey, if it works, don't knock it. Go on – I'm sure you're dying for the company of someone else too. I'm sure you can bear a bit longer without me."

"Aren't I meant to be the one teasing you?"

"Why should you have all the fun?" he chuckled as I left.

_"You know,"_ Ven remarked not long after. _"He reminds me of Terra."_

"Stands to reason, since Terra performed an Inheritance Ceremony for him."

_"I wondered why he could use a Keyblade."_

"I thought you caught everything I did?"

_"Sort of. If I'm paying attention. I spent the better part of ten years with Sora waiting for you to take his place, and I spent most of that time sleeping. Or something like it, anyway. Once I picked up the tell-tale signs that you'd taken his place I started to glance in on you more and more often. It took me a while to figure out why you didn't remember what you'd done with me."_

"When did you start paying attention more often then?"

_"When you created Roxas. I kinda had to. Read his story in full when you get back, you'll start to understand why. Who're you going to see next?"_

"I thought I'd just tour round them. Donald and Goofy, since I don't blame them for sticking together. Tron and Axel – I imagine Tron's there so Axel can keep trouble off his back. Maybe have a quick word with Sora if there's time, but I don't think he needs all that much encouragement."

_"I'll let you be then. We can talk again later, when we don't have all this hanging over your head."_

The conversations I had with those four didn't really accomplish much, except to provide a bit of confidence where possible. Goofy of course never failed to see the best in a situation and was completely unruffled by what was about to happen, which actually seemed to bother Donald more.

Similarly, Tron accepted the impending chaos calmly. He was in discussion with Axel, who was tense but hiding it well. The two of them were busily coming up with all kinds of tricks that made the most of both their capabilities, and after I'd stopped by they had even more ideas.

I did have enough time to talk to Sora, though all we really said was just catching up with what had been happening back at Destiny Islands, along with the suggestion that maybe I should take a quick break there before I headed back once everything was handled.

Then there was nothing much left for it – we had to wait for the last people to turn up before we could do it, and that bothered me more than anything that was going to happen. I don't deal very well in those situations, but I did my best to keep it from showing.

In the distance, the shimmering air above the gully that signified the presence of the tornadoes we'd left behind started to shift. Vanitas next to me winced occasionally as one by one, the tornadoes fell silent, the Unversed within destroyed. At least one of our opponents had arrived.

Occasionally in the air above us one of Charlie's white feathers appeared – or more accurately, tried to appear. They kept flickering back out of existance, presumably as Neku countered whatever his brother was trying to do. Once in a while a green leaf showed up from Sora's book, though those vanished again not long after. It was the sign that Sora's unnamed book was helping Neku, and the only visible sign of what must have been a titanic conflict between them and Charlie, given the immense forces involved. One being with the ability to change reality is powerful; three is beyond words.

Then Vanitas pointed toward the gully exit and murmured two words that managed to fill me with dread. "They're here."

_"Easy, Liam,"_ Ven said. _"I'm with you. Stay strong. You can do this."_

Charlie was not with them. Xehanort led the way with his twinned ethereal blades in hand, still wearing the black coat. Behind him was my Heartless, who even at this distance I could see scan the area briefly before his gaze came to rest on me. Data-Sora came last after a delay, clearly reluctant. I suspected he had some idea of what was going to happen to him. He held back from the other two until they met at the crossed pathways between the Keyblades, the same spot I had joined Terra, Aqua and Ventus on more than eleven years before.

"That's our cue," I told Vanitas. "You know what to do."

He didn't answer – he didn't need to. He simply fell into step beside me with a confident air about him. My eyes briefly flickered over all my friends in sight, keeping watch on their reactions. Given his feelings about Xehanort, I was very surprised to see Terra exercising considerable restraint, his only movement having been to block off any chance of their escaping through the gully.

I felt a probing touch through my darkness that had to have come from my Heartless, confirmed when he gave me a flat, hostile look. I sent a brief jolt back along his touch, tracing it back to catch him. He flinched back, looking only slightly less certain of himself, but there was no other change to him.

I did note in passing that since my hands had been restored, his had gone back to resembling the hands of the Heartless – fitting, since he is my Heartless.

"Couldn't you come up with an original idea?" Xehanort called to me scornfully.

"Why come up with an entirely new plan, when I can re-use an existing one – after learning from the mistakes it made, of course," I countered.

"Mistakes! I made no mistakes!"

"Oh, _really?_" it came out with thinly veiled sarcasm. "Why don't you tell that to Terra? Or Ventus? You made a mistake in thinking he would be a suitable vessel for you, thinking he was up to the task. Look how that turned out."

"What about you then Liam? Don't you consider coming here to be a mistake?"

"Everyone makes mistakes," I shrugged. "Some people are better at accepting them than others – and learning from them too."

Vanitas chuckled faintly to himself nearby, earning himself a hostile look.

Then apparently to everyone's surprise, Data-Sora spoke up. "You haven't learned a thing then," he asserted. "You're still ruled by the darkness. Look at you – you created that... that thing!" he gestured to Vanitas.

"'That thing' has a name, you know," he said mildly.

"And it follows you around, doing your bidding," Data-Sora went on. "He's all my darkness – my stolen darkness – and no light at all, how can you align yourself with him if you claim to be on the side of light!"

"You know, I had this conversation with Riku," Vanitas answered him. "He wasn't as vehement as you were, but he had his views. The Master settled that with a simple statement... what was it now..."

"Just because something or someone has ties to the darkness, doesn't necessarily mean it's evil," I supplied. "I might have done a few things I'm not proud of, and in a world of absolutes would be considered evil – but we don't live in a world of absolutes. You can't just label someone one way or the other and leave it at that. People change."

"What kind of answer is that? Do you just expect us to accept that and leave?" Data-Sora demanded.

"Of course not. You're all too stubborn for that."

"What makes you think you know us that well, Liam?" Xehanort asked me.

"You're missing a greater question, all of you. The question you should be asking is... how do you know I'm the real Liam?"

I gave a broad sweep of my arms, the prearranged signal to Neku who simultaneously dropped the primary illusion to replace it with the secondary one, making all the others visible – but to the trio ahead of us, all of them appeared to be me – all except Terra.

Xehanort wasn't entirely fooled, and I'm not surprised he knew it was a bluff. The real one was the one he'd been talking to all along. I was surprised to find that my Heartless fell for it though, given that he should be able to recognise me anywhere. Maybe Ven's recently revealed bit of meddling had thrown him off slightly.

But to handle Xehanort, I simply used Teleport to appear some distance behind him. Since none of them had turned around to look that way, none of them had any idea I hadn't been there all along.

Anti-Liam was already well on his way for one of the others, after a brief moment to recall where everyone was recognised as Riku. Vanitas had similarly started his attack already, heading after the startled Data-Sora, who fled – right toward me. When he saw me ready myself to attack him, he quickly changed course.

Left behind, Xehanort almost started to Data-Sora's aid until a hollow cry got his attention in a second. Terra's voice boomed out, amplified either by magic or his armour, then the thumping sounds of his armour charging for his old foe filled the air. Xehanort ran, but not away from Terra – he headed to meet him instead.

The rest of us closed in on one of the various fights, though Roxas, as expected, was already long out of sight for Neku's own protection. I just beelined for Riku and my Heartless - that was where I'd be needed most.

In a few short moments, our own battle had begun.


	46. The Great Battle

I don't have a particularly clear account of much of the battle. There was a great deal going on and by the time my Heartless and I got into our own fight I was more than prepared to unleash a whole lot of pent up feelings against him. Those didn't exactly help me keep an eye on the rest much.

However, Neku – who has finally started talking to me again – has worked his usual magic, and with his account of what happened you probably won't even notice just how focused I was.

Since Neku had neatly arranged for all of us except Vanitas and Terra to appear to be me, Data-Sora had no idea which of us he should be more afraid of. For some reason he continued to hold on to the unreasoning terror I seemed to instill in him ever since I'd split him in two, so he spent more time trying to avoid anyone than he did actually trying to fight off Vanitas. Tron and Axel worked with Sora and Vanitas to try to corner him.

Mickey had the same idea I did – head for my Heartless. Riku was holding him off, but Anti-Liam was pulling out all kinds of tricks of mine for him, and not all of them Riku knew of. He feigned taking heavier damage, pretending to stumble back and leave himself open, only to drop the act and retailiate harshly when Riku tried to take advantage of the apparent opening. He feinted high and low randomly, many of the attacks only barely avoided by Riku having to dip into his own darkness – and this was just to hold him off.

Mickey reached him first, though only be a few moments. The little king had the advantage that while he appeared to be me, the illusion Anti-Liam saw was, obviously, much taller than he was. True, after a few attacks passed harmlessly through it he started to hold a few suspicions, but there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it.

When I reached him things started going rather badly wrong for him. He must have recognised the touch of Gilded Light, as he turned in an instant to face me only to get struck by Riku behind him, then again by Mickey to one side. Oddly, Anti-Liam seemed to react to both Mickey's Keyblade and the one held by the covering illusion too – evidently Neku had done a bit more than I'd thought.

Then he threw another of my own tricks at me, fusing Thunder and Reflect to create barriers around him. Unlike mine though, his had darkness infused into them too, causing these barriers to move, shift, and lash out with bolts of lightning when anyone got too close.

"Mimic me," I told Riku in passing as the two of us, by sheer chance, happened to be near enough as one barrier shot overhead. He looked puzzled but didn't question me. I needed him to act and not ask for this. I had the magic that would counteract the barriers, but it would reveal which of us was the real me. He might have known when my Keyblade hit him, but we kept moving, weaving around to make him lose me.

Riku followed the gestures I made as I started bringing in the magic, carefully forming it around the three of us so that he wouldn't just be able to use the magic itself as a signpost, then when the two of us brought our hands sharply upwards a mass of earth shot up out of the ground, smothered the barriers, then dragged them beneath.

On the far side of the battlefield, not far from where Aqua once fought Ventus-Vanitas, Data-Sora was in a tight spot. They'd managed to corner him off, Axel chosing to reveal himself to create a barrier of fire to create an arena around them. He stood outside to maintain it and to dissuade any attempt to break in, while Tron, Sora and Vanitas wore him down. Data-Sora, like my Heartless, had started to call on various ideas of mine. His magic was nowhere near the scale I had, but he used it to considerable effect. Sora and Tron had other ideas though, with Sora's book taking action to cause Tron's attacks to resemble magic – or maybe become infused with Sora's own magic – while Vanitas, who fought not with a Keyblade or any real weapon but a stout club, simply battered away at his other half.

Interestingly, Donald and Goofy had chosen to take sides against Xehanort. I never got the chance to ask Terra what he thought of that, but it seems clear that he appreciated the aid they gave him. Goofy, as always, kept most of Xehanort's attacks away from Donald while he threw his own magic around. Then when Donald had to resort to physical attacks while his magic restored, Goofy went on the offensive, using the magic he'd been taught brilliantly, instilling all kinds of magical effects into the shield. He may not have much magic, nor does he have as much skill as some, but he definitly knows how to put it to good use. Having him knowing a bit was definitely paying off here.

By the time he'd exhausted his lesser supply of magic and dealt his own share of attacks, Donald was already well on the way to being ready for another round. Terra naturally battered away with his Keyblade and his own magic, pulling out abilities that I'd seen – and not a few that I hadn't. Ultima Cannon he'd turned on me before, but I don't recall ever seeing him use Ars Solum.

Anti-Liam continued to pull in more and more of my own older ideas against us meanwhile, and not just from me – from Roxas too. Those of you who've read his story will recognise a number of them. He drew away from the three of us menacing him, muttered a breif spell then threw his Keyblade at us. His dark Gilded Light soared through the air, homing in on us.

"Scatter!" Mickey barked quickly, and we headed in different directions. The Keyblade didn't falter or hesitate, but changed course to follow me. Anti-Liam's eyes narrowed harshly as his Keyblade identified me for him.

"Neku!" I shouted. "He knows who I am now – you can drop the illusion!"

There was another howl of frustration from Charlie, though what it was about was anyone's guess. I ignored it though, ducked under the flying Keyblade then as it reoriented on me again I set myself and smashed down hard, pinning it into the ground. My Heartless seemed incapable of summoning it back to him, leaving him temporarily unarmed – and right in my sights. Now the illusion was gone, there was no need for me to conceal anything – I could go all out with anything I had and not have to worry. Much.

He threw a barrage of spells toward me, but Riku swiftly intercepted them with short-lasting barriers that were made only to reflect one spell back at him regardless of what it was. Through the returned spells, I added Ragnarok followed by Ars Arcanum, sending him reeling back from each blow.

Unarmed but not defenceless, he retaliated as that finished with a solid blow that sent me to the ground, followed by a snarled spell that threw me back up into the air closely followed by Riku and Mickey – Zero Gravity, again. Neku had used the same trick on me back in Olympus Coliseum.

Gravity countered that neatly, but not before he had the chance to retrieve his Keyblade. For the first time since entering the datascape, I pulled out my armour and headed right back for him, his own Keyblade clanging off the armour harmlessly now.

He attempted his own Teleport to get behind Riku, but Mickey somehow saw it coming and deflected what would otherwise have been a severe blow to him. We turned quickly on him, but he pulled yet another of my own spells on me, Deep Freeze, holding us all to the spot.

I was the one holding the counter this time, with the ability to cast spells with neither words or gestures. One Firaga defrosted me, a second Riku and Mickey, and a third caused my Heartless to drop his suddenly cherry-red blade.

There was a sudden flash of bright light from where Data-Sora had been, temporarily blinding us. My Heartless howled in pain when the light caught him, and Terra, whose armour couldn't be blinded, took advantage of it to cause a similar response from Xehanort. When the afterglares faded we could see the results. Axel's fire barrier had been all but completely extinguished, the remains a few feebly flickering embers, Tron had been thrown up against a large rock and appeared to be dazed, Sora was writing as quick as he could in his own book, and Data-Sora held the blade that terrified Neku. Or at least, he appeared to be Data-Sora. It was too soon to tell which of them had won out.

Fortunately my Heartless had also been distracted by this, instantly giving me the opportunity to strike out at him unawares. That was a mistake however, since he retaliated with brutal swiftness thanks to his darkness, letting it loose through his now-cooled Keyblade to send me flying. I had to move quickly to avoid a swift attack Xehanort made for me before he had to turn back to deal with Terra. My Heartless had thrown me a considerable distance, and it left Mickey and Riku to deal with him alone. Unless...

I avoided another attack by Xehanort, lashing out in response with a sudden blast of earth around him that held him in place for Terra, Donald and Goofy to perform a devastating unified attack that left him cursing my name – again – then I set about searching myself for the cards from the data Castle Oblivion, hoping they'd still work here.

I couldn't find them, but then I realized – I had Donald and Goofy here. What did I need the cards for when I had the real thing on hand?

"Terra, I'm going to borrow your backup a moment," I warned him. "I need you two over here."

"Fine by me," Terra grunted. "Don't forget to beat up the old man on your way out."

"Old man!" Xehanort almost screamed. "I'll show you who's an old man!"

Neatly done, Terra.

With Donald and Goofy on hand I pulled out not Wisdom form as I had originally planned, but Final Form. Like Valour and Master, it gave me another Keyblade. In this case, Oathkeeper. As before though I had no need to hold these Keyblades in this form, I could send them off to do what I wanted just by thinking about it. Gilded Light was quickly sent off to help Riku and Mickey, given a chunk of my own magic that would allow it to cast my spells on its own, much like Jafar's Staff had done in the data Agrabah.

Oathkeeper I kept nearby, supporting Terra while I'd borrowed his aid. He hardly needed it, having defeated Xehanort once before and doing just fine in this second fight, but our concerted offensive really started to bother him. Since Oathkeeper had no wielder, being controlled directly by my will, he couldn't disarm me, he couldn't steal it and he couldn't stop it. All he could do was try to block it too.

He was clearly adept at casting magic on the move, but the long string of spells he called out became increasingly interspersed with healing spells just to keep himself going. I had a feeling that he'd be the first to run from the field of battle.

Gilded Light was happily irritating my Heartless on its own, thanks to an idea I had controlling itself rather than directly by me. It threw all kinds of fused spells around, such as the plasma storm made from Fira, Thundaga and Aero, many of which my Heartless had never come up against before or was even aware of, as he had little to no idea of my activities in Castle Oblivion. Like Xehanort, he quickly discovered there was little he could do about the Keyblade, since they can't be destroyed and can't take damage it would just keep on attacking him by the magic I gave it or just by battering away.

It kept his attention, which allowed Mickey and Riku to keep my Heartless out the way for now, and let me turn my attention to the problem of Data-Sora. It was still impossible to tell who exactly was in control. Sora was tending to Tron and Axel with some healing magic, but Data-Sora hadn't moved an inch. He seemed almost fascinated by the X-blade he now held.

Once Tron and Axel were back up to strength and ready for more though, that changed. He gave them all a cursory glance then cast about the battlefield until he spotted me. Then with a vicious grin, he charged for me.

Either Vanitas had turned on me, or Data-Sora had won out – and he now had his darkness back as well. I threw magic in his path in all kinds of combinations, many of which had little effect because the various magic instilled into the conflicted. I picked whatever I thought of first, often at random, and that randomness made Data-Sora just a little more cautious – not to mention Sora, Tron and Axel in pursuit behind him.

I didn't particularly want him to get too close to either of the other fights going on though, so rather reluctantly I decided to release Final form, returning Donald and Goofy to Terra's side, then retrieving my Keyblade to meet Data-Sora head on. The trio behind quickly redirected their pursuit to my Heartless, coming to supplment Mickey and Riku.

The X-blade has a considerably longer reach than any Keyblade I've seen before, and I kept a healthy wariness of it as the new fight between Data-Sora and me started. Every time I got close enough to strike at him I had to back off again or get hit by that blade, and after carelessness had caused me to take a few blows from it I really didn't want that to happen. Dear Gods that thing has a lot of power behind it – you can almost feel it brimming with barely contained energy when it's too close.

"You've failed, Liam," Data-Sora taunted me. "And you've made another mistake. You let me out of the datascape. Now I have this, you can't stop me and you can't stop Charlie either."

"Don't assume I'm going to just give up that easily," I retorted. "I've still got plenty of fight left in me."

"It won't do you any good. You see..." he grinned, reaching for one pocket. "I stole this from Xehanort."

It was a slender white volume, the same one seen way back at the start.

"Charlie's book," I breathed. "You've got..."

"Oh yes," he smirked. "That fake Roxas you've been carting around might have made Neku more powerful, but this is even more powerful yet. And since I hold it and his book-"

I didn't stop to think, let alone let him finish his sentence. Completely heedless of the blade in his hand I rushed in to attack him, drawing on darkness heedlessly for a boost, using all the magic I had to preface my assault with a wave of nearly pure magic ahead of me.

Data-Sora vanished, leaving a feather sinking down where he'd been. That accursed blade caught my undefended back, causing magic and darkness to falter as I was sent crashing to the ground.

Then a peculiar kind of lassitude came over me, and I felt myself being pushed to one side – not a physical push either. It felt almost like the times my Nobody had taken over from me, but Roxas wasn't with me – someone else was, however.

Ventus, taking action without consulting me, pushed himself up. Gilded Light flashed once, then shifted into his own Keyblade, Wayward Wind as Ventus stood against Data-Sora, having put himself in control.

"Alright," he said. "Now it's _my_ turn. Nobody beats up my friends and gets away with it."

"Don't forget about me," Terra's voice added, his armour coming up beside us.

"Xehanort?" Ven asked.

"The coward ran when he realized he was outmatched. Your friends are helping against your Heartless, Liam."

"You fools," Data-Sora shook his head. "You think this will make a difference? A shattered heart and a worn out suit of armour? You should have left Liam to fight his own battle."

"Friends don't let their friends fight alone," Ventus told him, then set himself ready for a fight. "I've fought one Vanitas with that blade before – one more isn't gonna be much of a challenge."


	47. Tale from the Book

I realize you probably don't think that was the best point to leave things hanging, but there was a reason behind it. In what is a first for any MetaStory, Neku himself asked to tell the remainder of what happened at the Keyblade Graveyard. Out of respect for him, and since I don't believe he's even suggested anything like this before, I've given in to him. Enjoy.

* * *

><p>Ven's take over from Liam wasn't entirely his own idea, but as I've found many times over the course of my existance, you can get people to do what you want with a gentle mental nudge in the right direction. More than a few previous bearers of my book found that out when I 'persuaded' them it was a good idea to make sure they never saw my book again.<p>

As you might imagine, I nudged Ventus because I had absolutely no intentions of letting Liam get his hands on that blade. As someone else remarked a while back, he's far too erratic and unpredictable. I know him though, and I know if I hadn't acted he would have done whatever it took to get the blade away from Data-Sora.

Terra, on the other hand, took action entirely on his own as soon as he realised what I had done. Roxas, who held my book at the time, watched from a safe vantage high above. The same place Terra fought Xehanort originally, incidentally. I'd made arrangements so that he could hear whatever he felt he needed to below. I of course have no need of that – I can see or hear whatever I want, wherever I want.

To answer the question I know one of you is thinking right now, yes, I did in fact gift a slightly limited version of that onto Liam's Nobody. I'll leave you to theorise why I did that.

At any rate, Ventus and Terra stood against Data-Sora, who was right when he claimed we'd erred. In letting him out of the Datascape he'd become more dangerous. There would be no leaving him intact.

Terra took on Data-Sora first at another nudge from me. His Ends of the Earth is only marginally shorter than the X-Blade itself, making him the ideal one to take the brunt of the attack. His attacks might be slow, but his defence was nigh impenetrable.

Ven's quicker attacks were more designed to harass Data-Sora while his attention was distracted handling Terra. I'd have done something to help them, but my brother was quite actively opposing anything major enough for him to pick up on. Just the hint of trying to change someone and I'd hit a metaphorical brick wall. With his book in Data-Sora's possession, the blade allowed him to stop anything.

The fight around Liam's Heartless – who is not, in fact, a Heartless – had one purpose only. Keeping him away from the other fight until the time was right. During the time Riku inhabited Liam's body and held my book, I carefully prepared him for this, making it clear to him that he did not tell anyone. I needed him to take command there for certain reasons that don't really translate very well, and I don't think I particularly want to try.

He guided each of the others in turn, never overlooking anything that came up. When Anti-Liam turned on any single one of them, he swiftly had others reach around to attack from behind, always one physically and one magically. Tron and Axel worked together as their abilities work quite well in conjunction with each other, Donald and Goofy quite naturally were also a team, leaving Sora and Mickey as the last pair.

Only Riku always engaged Anti-Liam at any one time, taking risks I'd told him it was safe to take. He had darkness yes, but I'd prepared long in advance for that. Whatever happened to him in that battle, I'd ensured he'd come out of it no worse than he'd gone in.

I could tell already that while they could not destroy Anti-Liam – only Liam himself could do that – they were quite capable of keeping him busy without needing to be watched constantly, so I turned the rest of my attention to Data-Sora's battle.

Yes, as a matter of fact I can focus on two and many more things at any one time. I've never counted how many I can at most, but my estimate is a number that would take several days to write. Now, why don't you stop with thinking these silly questions and let me tell you what happened? Somehow I thought you might prefer that.

Terra and Ven were starting to achieve their goal, but it was taking too long. Ventus could only get at Data-Sora while his attention was fully on Terra, and my brother seemed to be doing his best to allow Data-Sora to focus on both. Between that and actively opposing me and Saisha – my sister, the book Sora has – I guessed that his attention would be a little more concentrated than mine was. We can't tell immediately what each other will do, so he had to be ready to counter anything as soon as he figured it out.

As a short test to find out just how much attention he was paying me, I reached out back to your world where Liam's Nobody was busy... well, no need to go into what he was doing at the time, but he was busy, and I made a subtle change. There was no resistance to it, confirming what I needed to know – Charlie was focused entirely on this one world. I could affect something somewhere else, but would that help?

The answer came from Roxas. I was doing my best to keep him informed of what I was trying to do, though I didn't see any point mentioning what I'd just done.

"Why not ask Aqua to help?" he suggested.

'I don't have enough power to bring her out of the Realm of Darkness,' I replied, the words just appearing as I willed them. It was a lie, I admit, but I know better than almost everyone what's due to happen, and I had no intentions of disrupting it because we needed a hand.

"Then steal an idea from Ventus. Like when he appeared to face the Trinity Armour. Terra and Ventus are there, and they both have ties to her. Liam too. Maybe if all three of them reached out to her it could do something similar?"

It was a workable idea, at least theoretically. Nudge the three of them into using their Dimension Link to her in unison, let her know what was going on and it should work with a few tweaks.

First I had to find her. A Dimension Link will work regardless of where the other person is, but this needed to be more specific. And I needed to do a few things to her in preparation.

I found her wandering not far from the darkened remains of the Dwarf Woodlands. I call them remains, but if you'd looked at them you wouldn't have seen much difference. As I've told Liam before though, I can see a great deal more than you can.

Her time in the Realm of Darkness had made her very perceptive. While I had no physical form anywhere near her, she was nonetheless aware of my presence.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" she demanded, holding herself ready to fight, but with the clear weariness of someone who's seen enough fighting and would rather avoid it.

"Put it down," I told her, using the Neku avatar I've used before to appear nearby. "I'm not here to threaten you at all. I just you to do something for me." She remained suspicious of me, so I also added, "I'm here on behalf of Liam." Well, a little white lie never hurt anyone. It was sort of true, he just didn't know it yet.

"Liam," she repeated thoughtfully, lowering the Keyblade. "It's been a while since I heard that name. How is he?"

"Never mind that. In a few minutes he, Terra and Ventus are going to call on you at the same time. You'll feel a kind of pulling sensation. Go with it. It'll take you to them – sort of. I can't get you out of here, but it'll be enough to help them."

"Terra made it back? And Ven? He's awake again?"

"Not exactly. You'll understand once there. Just trust me on this. I need you to be aware of it, otherwise it won't work."

"I'll need somewhere safe here if I'm not actually leaving."

"Leave that to me," I told her, making the arrangements as I said it. The area around her would, for a time, be completely impervious to all creatures. "Will you do it?"

"For them, of course. How long will I have to wait?"

"Not long. I have to go warn them. Just wait here."

Then I withdrew the avatar. I've found that's a useful way of stopping people from irritating me with questions when I have to act.

The whole exchange actually only took less than a second. It's sort of hard to explain in your language, but the best way to think of it is a fold in time. It's not entirely accurate, but it'll do.

Now I had to prepare Liam. Since he wasn't exactly busy while Ventus was in control, I just touched on his mind.

"I know you're there, Neku," he told me. "I can feel you."

"You're too perceptive for your own good," I complained, then filled him in.

"Will it work?"

"It will if I have anything to say about it," I replied. "I think I can work around Charlie." I didn't bother to tell him I didn't have to.

"I'll have Ven let Terra know. Give us a minute or two. How are the others doing?"

"Well enough. Just be ready."

I did briefly check on them to make sure they really were handling things, but there wasn't really any need. They were still going, though starting to get weary. I solved that for them by asking Saisha to renew their strength for me. In some regards she was more free to act than I was, as Charlie knew I was a greater threat so long as I had Roxas aiding me – and believe me, borrowing his immunity had been no mean feat in the first place.

Ventus circled around Data-Sora to stand by Terra's side, then after they worked together to allow Terra to push back Data-Sora to give them some room, the two joined hands and with Liam's voice overlaying Ven's own, the three of them called out to Aqua, asking her to join the battle.

Data-Sora had been launching another attack, but a shimmering blue barrier of hexagons protected the two of them as Aqua, filmy and indistinct but there all the same, appeared inside the barrier. I'd worked very carefully on her end of the links so that she would appear, but that any attack made for her would simply pass harmlessly right through. On the other hand, any physical attack she made would be as solid as any one the others could have done.

Charlie's rather childish howl of frustration was rather amusing actually. I don't think he expected me to do anything away from the Keyblade Graveyard that would affect the battle.

With Aqua on the scene, the situation improved rapidly. The three of them were able to push back Data-Sora further and further toward the battle with Anti-Liam. Data-Sora grew increasingly more frustrated and desperate every time he tried to attack Aqua but found insubstantial air instead, and he started making mistakes.

The problem now was that I needed someone I could trust – more or less – to take the blade off him. The original plan had been for Vanitas to take it, but as Liam had overlooked the fact he'd created Vanitas without a Keyblade, Data-Sora had quickly overpowered him. Even I hadn't thought of it until I watched their internal struggle. Even I can make mistakes.

There was another problem too, of course – out of all of them, I'd only ever touched on the minds of Liam and Riku. Not that anyone's ever told you about the latter. Go ask Riku about it.

I could have asked Riku, but I decided there was a better way.

"Mickey, don't show any sign you can hear me," I told him, causing him alone to hear my avatar's voice in one ear. "I need something to be done, and you're the best one for the job. Take the blade from Data-Sora and stab him with it. It'll destroy him and force him to drop my brother's book. Remember you'll be immune to me and him from the moment you touch that blade, so I won't be able to talk to you afterwards. If you get the chance, go after Anti-Liam with it too."

"Wouldn't Lee be a better choice for that?" he breathed as quietly as he could.

"He's the only one who can destroy Anti-Liam, true," I admitted. "But he can do that some other time. The immediate concern here is that blade and my brother. Good luck, your Majesty."

Then I left him alone. He quickly informed Riku that I'd given him a special task, and Riku took that into account. When the other fight was close enough, Mickey darted in and skillfully stole the blade from Data-Sora just as he was about to make a strike for Ventus. Or technically Liam, since it's his body, Ven was just using it. You know what I mean.

Everything seemed to stop in the moments following Mickey's theft of the blade. Data-Sora stared at his now-empty hand in disbelief, while all others, even Anti-Liam, froze to watch what happened next.

The X-Blade is massive, but it's own innate power makes it weightless to whoever dares hold it. Mickey looked very strange holding that blade because of the size difference. Data-Sora turned to face Mickey, who'd landed behind him after taking the blade.

"You?" he gasped. "But... he would never... it would have been..." His thoughts were in such disarray even I couldn't figure out what he was trying to say when Mickey did exactly what I asked him to.

I did nudge Liam, who muttered, "You could have just asked," irritably, then gently took control back from Ventus, used his magic to appear behind Anti-Liam and deliver what would have been a fatal blow if it weren't for Anti-Liam's nature. He was critically weakened, enough to force him to disappear for a very long time until he grows strong enough to oppose Liam again, but not defeated for good. There's no real way for that to happen unless Liam sheds every last trace of darkness.

That was done in the exact same moment Data-Sora started to glow, neither white nor black but a dark grey. Parts of that flicked off turning into white motes in the air, while the darker remains earthed into the ground and reached up around him. The light and dark sides of him were going their separate ways, destroying him in a soundless explosion of white and black, one fading upwards, the other sinking down.

My brother's book was left hanging in the air where it had been until the last remains had faded away, then it thumped to the ground. I could feel the terror he felt, knowing that he was practically defenceless. Like I had, like Saisha had, he was for the first time ever, contemplating the prospect of death – and to near-immortal beings like us, who have lived for millenia without anything to be afraid of, that is a truly terrifying concept. Not even the greatest of my relatives, who has made cameo appearances in certain Final Fantasy games, has ever faced it.

In desperation he formed the avatar we all know as Charlie.

"Don't do it, Mickey," he pleaded with the little king. "You wouldn't do it. Not to me. Please Mickey. Spare me."

Mickey advanced on the avatar grimly.

"I could give you anything!" he almost wailed. "Anything at all, Mickey! Anything you want!"

"What for?" Mickey asked simply. Charlie recoiled back from the words. Mickey may or may not have been tempted by the offer, but rejecting it that way struck at Charlie hard. In a way I understand why – normally the offer of your heart's true desires is very hard to resist, and I suspect he used that to his advantage before. Someone completely uninterested must have been a nightmare for him.

Strangely, the thought of picking up his own book didn't seem to occur to him. He could have picked it up and gone anywhere at all, but in the face of that infernal blade, fear seemed to overrule all thought.

Charlie's avatar changed then, becoming the form Liam's Nobody described in the final chapter of his story, seen when he attempted to use magic on him before Charlie forced him to forget. In case you've forgotten, I'll borrow Roxas's description here:

'The white was replaced with black, and the blue eyes were harsh amber orbs with no white to them and no black for the pupil. Behind him a pair of similarly black feathered wings were outstretched. The benign expression was one of deranged fury, one that suggested if I could hear this other side to him it would be snarling and growling in an otherworldly sounding voice.'

Some recoiled back, mostly they gave him a wide berth but were ready to fight this apparition. Mickey did not falter though. Charlie started to back away until he backed into the viciously grinning Liam, who he actually flinched back from. They formed a circle around Mickey and Charlie, preventing any kind of escape except by flying – and even that didn't seem to occur to him.

With no escape and the X-Blade bearing inexorably down on him, he tried to attack Mickey, but he just brushed it aside with the blade. He flinched back in pain from even the slightest touch, the power within it harmful to my relatives and I even on contact.

And then Mickey struck. Charlie screamed out once, a sound that seemed almost to threaten to tear at the fabric of reality itself.

I know Liam let me write this, but he came up with a very nice description of what happened next, so I'll share his words here.

'He cried out as the blade struck him down, reaching up imploringly to the skies high above. He cried out again in that unknown language of the books with loss and pleading in his voice, as if calling out to his mother, but there came no response.

And then he sank down, crashing to his knees as the dread blade was withdrawn from its fatal wound, crashing again to the rocks where he lay at last lifeless and no more but for the unblemished book that was his true form.

With a fire of the same white his book burned away as his body faded, until there was nothing left but burnt rocks around the place his book had fallen.'


	48. A Future Foreshadowed

With Xehanort fled out of necessity – he still has other times to appear, after all – my Heartless at least temporarily defeated, and both Data-Sora and Charlie destroyed to the same blade, all fell silent in the great expanse of the Keyblade Graveyard. What had started with an innocuous visit to help Mickey debug the Journal had at last come to an end.

The indistinct image of Aqua gave Terra a knowing, almost sly look, then winked at me before she vanished entirely. If nothing else, we had given her a new hope that she hadn't been forgotten, and in due time we'd come for her.

Terra looked to me wordlessly, nodded, then threw his Keyblade skyward to call his Glider. "Don't go getting yourself into any more trouble," he told me in parting just before it arrived. He took it back up to the rock where he'd stood waiting, though he didn't stop there right away – Roxas was up there, and I can only guess he asked Terra for a lift back down again.

"Don't forget what I told ya earlier," Mickey told me. "I gotta go do something about this thing."

"Do you know what to do with it?" I asked him.

"More or less. Don't ask questions, Lee. As Yen Sid told me – you're not the only one who has an idea of what's gonna happen." He paused to look speculatively at Tron and added, "I think I'll take you along with me. I gotta get you back to Radiant Garden's datascape anyway."

"I'm heading that way too," Axel said. "I'll go too."

Mickey shook his head though. "You wouldn't be able to travel the same way safely. Best to go with him."

"That brings up an interesting question," Riku remarked, watching the oddly mismatched pair head off behind a rock formation. "Just how do you plan to get everyone back? Your Glider isn't going to take all of us."

"Just ask Neku?" Goofy suggested.

"It won't work," Roxas said, sounding subdued. "Neku won't talk to me. I think he's taking the loss of his brother hard."

"Despite what he did?" Donald sounded sceptical.

"They were still brothers," Roxas replied. "That, and I got the idea it's the first time any of them have ever been destroyed."

"I can't get my book to answer me either," Sora said.

"Well, Liam?" Riku asked me.

"Give me a moment. I'm working on it," I answered. "The easiest solution would be to take the Gummi Ship again."

"Which is back at Destiny Islands," Sora pointed out. "Some use it does us there. If we could get word to Xion..."

"Use a corridor."

"You're not serious."

"I didn't mean all of us. Riku can still use them, and now there's no pressure on me I could probably figure it out if I really wanted to. One of us just has to drop in on him, pick up the ship and fly it here."

"I'll go. I know how to fly a Gummi Ship." Riku stopped, then brightly added, "Well, not entirely, but there's a first time for everything, isn't there? I just need to know where to go."

"Oh, god," Sora groaned. "Does anyone want a bet on how many times he gets lost? Or how many pieces it gets here in?"

"If you're that bothered by it, I'll put you into a corridor so you can take it yourself."

Sora stopped objecting after that. I gave Riku a few directions, remembering where to find the Graveyard in relation to the Disney Castle, then he left to retrieve the Gummi Ship.

I don't know exactly what Mickey did with the X-Blade. For all I know, he has it kept somewhere safe in his Castle, although I get the distinct impression he's destroyed it. Whatever he'd done with it, I reluctantly conceded it was probably better in his hands than mine now the danger had passed.

Despite Sora's misgivings about Riku's piloting skills, we didn't have all that long to wait.

As they had before, Donald and Axel ended up in discussion over magic – I don't know what they found so fascinating about it, but maybe they were just more involved in how it worked, while I tend to focus on just using it. Goofy joined them, and I suspect even picked up a bit more magic of his own.

Sora and Roxas found nearby rocks useful when they started talking. The fact that this Roxas was, technically, his own Nobody gave them something to talk about. Roxas did leave Neku's book with me before they got too deeply involved in their quiet discussion.

Neku's book was blank inside though, except for the ever present words just inside the front cover.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked the book.

'Leave me alone Liam,' he answered. 'Just keep me safe and don't bother me.'

"Suit yourself. But if you change your mind, you know I'm here."

'Just go away. I don't particularly like you right now.'

"It's not as if I was the one to do it," I protested.

'If it hadn't been for the first words you wrote in my book, this wouldn't have happened. I'd say that lays the blame squarely on you. Now leave me be.'

What could I say to that? He had a point.

* * *

><p>There wasn't much said once Riku picked us up, except for Sora's insistence that I take over from him as pilot. I think for the most part, much as adventures can be fun, they were more relieved this one was over. I can't say I blame them. Between Charlie and my Heartless alone, it hadn't exactly been as easy to go through as the previous adventures.<p>

We stopped by Radiant Garden, all trooping on in to catch up with our friends there. Demyx, despite Axel's prediction otherwise, was not _too_ sulky at being left out, but he did insist that if we didn't take him with us next time, he'd invite himself along.

I won't go into all that much detail on the visit there, since most of it was taken up by trying to tell everyone what had happened, frequently punctuated with corrections from the others where they remembered differently. We did conveniently skip over how Sora ended up with us, since the knowledge of his book and mine were something we didn't exactly want everyone to know.

We paused a second time at the Disney Castle to drop off Donald and Goofy, during which I headed to the room Mickey's computer was in. Unsurprisingly, Mickey was already there.

"Giving it another go?" I asked him as I entered.

"I figure this time we won't have the same trouble," he answered. "Tron's giving me a hand this time. It's slow progress, since we gotta debug a lot of it again, and without Data-Sora's completely intact copy of the Datascape we don't have a baseline to work with, but we're getting there."

"I hope you'll excuse me if I don't offer to help this time. Once was bad enough, and I really should be getting back before long."

"That's alright," he grinned. "I wasn't going to let you this time. You're the one who caused the trouble, after all."

"Me? Would I do a thing like that?"

"Of course you would – it's what you do best!"

Our last port of call was, of course, the Destiny Islands. It was late evening when we got there, so we didn't have all that long. Sora and Riku were understandably weary, so while they headed home I spent the evening with Xion recounting what happened. Again. It sometimes seems that I'm forever retelling what I get up to.

Sora invited Roxas to stay with him, until Riku pointed out he didn't have the room at home with Xion staying there and instead offered him a room at his own place. Sora didn't seem too happy about that, but when it was suggested the alternative was for Xion to move in with Riku instead, he became even less happy about the idea. I got the impression that he really didn't want to miss out on all the mischief I'd been told he and Xion could get into being identical twins.

Later on of course, Xion also went back to shore to get some sleep. Despite what I'd said to Mickey, I decided to stick around for a time. There's a kind of serenity about the Islands that helps wash away worries. Given that I was going to have to persuade Roxas it had been kind of necessary to leave him behind, and get back to my own life back home, I wanted at least a little calm time to bear me through it.

When the skies started to become touched with the golden light of dawn, I was joined up on what Roxas had called Riku's Rock by an early riser – Riku himself.

"Still here?" he asked in that quiet voice everyone seems to use in the small hours of the morning. "I thought you'd have gone home by now."

"Trying to get rid of me, huh?" I teased.

"Would I do a thing like that? Your Nobody isn't going to be too happy to see you, you know."

"I know. That's one of the reasons I'm still here. I want a nice peaceful buffer against it."

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you about, Liam. You remember back in the Underworld, I told you I was aware of what happened while my heart was separate?"

"Of course. Why bring that up?"

"I heard what you said to Mickey about the Mark of Mastery. I've got to go to Yen Sid, haven't I?"

"Not exactly, and not yet. There's some time yet before that happens, and in any case I understand he'll send for you and Sora."

"And you as well?"

"Why me? I'm already a Master, remember? Eraqus saw to that – or haven't you read that far into my story yet?"

He gave a wry laugh, "I haven't had the chance to read all that much of it actually. I read a bit last night, I just got to the part where I nicked your Keyblade off you. I'd like to have seen just how bad you were when you were blasting your way through Hollow Bastion's basement puzzle."

"You know what I'm like when I'm irritable. I just happened to be a bit more demonstrative about it at the time."

"True enough. Anyway, I was thinking. You had Ventus and Xehanort watching when you took the Mark of Mastery, didn't you?"

"Xehanort was there in his official capacity as a Master, I believe. Eraqus conferred with him for a time before he finally decided who made the mark."

"Close enough. So why shouldn't you be there to see us take it?"

"Are you inviting me to come see you take the Mark? As a kind of inspirational guide?"

"Why not? Besides, that way if anything happens you'll be right on hand."

"What happens there will be your story, Riku – yours and Sora's."

"Yeah, but your presence changed a lot, remember? What if something unexpected comes up?"

"Then it'll be a good test of your abilities, won't it?" He looked a little disappointed by that, but I figured there wouldn't be any harm done in being present. "I'll be there to watch," I promised him. "I could hardly do any less for you now, could I?"

"Does your boyfriend know you flirt with me?" he asked a little suspiciously.

"Probably. He will by the time he reads this. I know him though, he'll understand. Now, I think I better get going. Much as I'd like to watch a sunrise, I've got a lot to do."

"Just a moment," Riku held me back, quickly climbing the nearby tree. "Don't get the wrong idea this time," he warned me, then threw a Paopu fruit at me. "I thought you might want to share one with him," he explained.

"Sure you don't want to share it with me yourself?" I asked with a sly grin.

"Just go, Liam!" he answered with a flush creeping up his face.

* * *

><p>I was not entirely as willing to start my long journey home, knowing it had taken several hours to get from our world to the nearest world of the Lanes Between in the first place. Don't ask me why it's so far away. I suspect Neku's involved somehow, but he won't tell me.<p>

In what I suppose was an attempt to put it off, I decided there was no harm in dropping in on Yen Sid, frequently finding excuses along the way to drop in on nearby worlds to make sure all was well. Which it was, of course. It isn't all that far to his tower though.

Since I was feeling a little lazy once I'd landed outside I just used my magic to Teleport to the top room instead.

"Most people use the door," Yen Sid observed, unruffled as always. "It at least announces their presence in advance."

"Since when do I do things the normal way? Mickey suggested I drop in on you before I headed back."

"I thought that might be the reason for your visit. There are three reasons I asked him to make that suggestion. First... these were found in Traverse Town," he told me, picking up a small box from beneath his desk and sliding it over to me.

Inside was a curious collection of items. A thick yellow wristband with no markings on it, what appeared to be a small mp3 player but with nothing connected to it, a black hat with a small skull on it, and strangely out of place among them, what appeared to be a miniature version of Cloud's Sword.

"Where in town, and how long ago?" I asked, examining each in turn.

"The Fourth District, just after you entered the datascape."

"Fourth?" I exclaimed with some surprise. "There is no fourth district."

"There is now – along with a fifth."

"Then that means-" I broke off, recognising some of the items now. The first two belonged to Neku – the real Neku, at least. The hat, though I haven't played much of The World Ends with You, I recognised as belonging to another of the characters that makes their appearance in Dream Drop Distance. The last was still a mystery to me though. The two districts along with these items had appeared in advance, in preparation for that story to happen.

"I see," Yen Sid nodded, apparently understanding. "You cannot speak of it yet."

"It wouldn't be prudent to. I know very little about the events surrounding them, and I can't say for sure how they've been affected by me."

"Perhaps in time then."

"Maybe. I think you ought to return these where you found them. The people who they belong to will be looking for them before long. What's next?"

"A matter that concerns you – and your world – directly. The Heartless know where you hail from, Liam. It is only a matter of time before they reach you, though the distance be vast."

"Then I'll just have to be ready for them, won't I? Don't worry about my world. I have a few plans that will make it hard for any Heartless that arrives."

No, I'm not telling what they are. They work best if not known about.

Yen Sid let that pass without comment. "Then the last matter... you have had a long journey, and face another one to return home. My train awaits you at the base of the tower, and will take you to the station nearest your home. It will at least allow you to rest safely for a time on your return journey."

"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but your train is going to be a bit out of place back home, you know."

"Those who see it will be encouraged not to be concerned about it," he replied with a faint smile. "I instilled that into it early on, when it became necessary to visit other worlds. Only those who have use of it will notice it. That is why you did not notice it when you arrived here."

The sly old dog. And I thought I had powerful magic behind me. Just the idea of some of the things he's capable of is enough to dwarf my own.

* * *

><p>And now you know the tale of my most recent misadventure. It's been a long story since it all started, hasn't it? But the story isn't done yet – there's more to come just as soon as it happens, and naturally I'll tell of my involvement in those when it happens.<p>

For now though... well, I do have all these other stories to finish writing. Onward to the next one!

See you next time!


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